Text narrated local news footagefrom @theoregonian

Themes

• Wildlife conservation
• Local events
• Unusual occurrences
• Community reporting

Techniques

• Text-driven narrative
• User-generated content curation
• Sequential text reveal

Trends

• Text-narrated news
• Nature sightings

Post caption

A young gray whale somehow swam about 20 miles up the narrow Willapa River in southwest Washington, passing South Bend and Raymond before ending up in cow country, far from where most people would ever expect to see a whale, shocking locals. This video was taken from a bridge near the farthest known point of its inland journey — roughly 20 miles upriver from Willapa Bay. First reported upriver on Wednesday, April 1, the whale is now the focus of an effort by officials and the Chinook Indian Tribe, who hope to coax it downriver and back out to sea today. Click the link in our bio to read the full story with maps, another video and photos. The story can also be found on oregonlive.com Video courtesy of Christine Balcom Reporting by @Mark_W_Graves, The Oregonian/OregonLive

Text overlays

• contextual · throughout

  Courtesy of Christine Balcom

• title · beginning

  Gray whale swims 20 miles up Willapa River in southwest Washington

• informational · middle

  The young whale was first reported April 1, 2026 — April Fools' Day — but this was no joke.

• informational · middle

  The whale entered from Willapa Bay near Bruceport and swam east along U.S. 101 past South Bend and Raymond.

• informational · middle

  Cascadia Research, with support from NOAA and WDFW, is monitoring the whale and hoping it leaves on its own.

• informational · end

  If the whale is still in the river Friday, April 3, crews plan an on-the-water response to try to encourage it downstream.