A whale of a legacy: Maine Beer Company and COA Allied Whale
From a modest gift to a soaring skeleton, decades of partnership continue to protect Maine’s majestic marine creatures.
On Thanksgiving 2023, a young female fin whale named Finny came ashore in Steuben. She was emaciated and barely half the size of a full-grown adult at just 49.6-feet long. After her death, College of the Atlantic Allied Whale staff, students, and volunteers recovered her skeleton many months later with support from Maine Beer Company.
In the earliest days of MBC, their first nonprofit donation of only $100 began a partnership that has grown over time and continues to this day in support of Allied Whale’s work, leading the way in marine mammal field research.
Finny was carefully cleaned and reassembled by students at College of the Atlantic under the guidance of Dan DenDanto ’91, founder of Whales and Nails and a research associate with Allied Whale. On September 16, Finny’s skeleton was suspended above the Maine Beer Company tasting room, giving her a second life to spark curiosity and connection to these magnificent animals.
And speaking of fin whales, Lunch, a fin whale first spotted along the Maine coast in 1982, has what looks like a bite taken out of her dorsal fin. In 2009, Lunch captured the imagination of Daniel Kleban, MBC’s co-founder. Following an unplanned visit to a whale museum on a rainy day, he named their signature IPA after her. While not Lunch, this fin whale skeleton serves as a reminder of MBC’s lasting partnership in support of the wild and majestic marine mammals of Maine.
All are invited to join MBC in officially welcoming Finny to their family with a special Evening Benefit for Allied Whale on Wednesday, October 1. The fin whale skeleton will be unveiled in the tasting room, and there will be remarks from:
- Daniel Kleban, Co-founder of Maine Beer Company
- Sean Todd, Director, COA Allied Whale
- Sylvia Torti, President of College of the Atlantic
- Rep. Chellie Pingree, U.S. Representative, COA Class of 1979
Let’s Get Together for Lunch! We hope to see you there.
All proceeds directly support the critical work of Allied Whale.