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email: agilitynut@hotmail.com |
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| Sea Creatures |
(hit "refresh" to get the most recent version of this page; click on photos for larger images)
| Seal Crescent City, CA |
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| This Seal statue is one of a pair installed at the entrance to Ocean World. |
| Harbie the Seal Cuba, MO |
Harbie the Seal Bisbee, AZ |
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Harbie the Seal was the mascot of Harbor Gasoline, a chain of gas stations in Los Angeles and Orange County. These statues originally held lanterns in their outstretched arms.
The Cuba statue is located at Bob's Gasoline Alley, a private collection of signs and other collectibles. "Sacramento, CA" is painted on the front of the seal's rock but it's not known how or when or even if this statue was located in Sacramento. I don't believe there were ever any Harbor gas stations there. The Bisbee statue is now installed at Shady Dell. I don't know what happened to his back. The other Harbies that I have seen don't have this gap. |
| Harbie the Seals Garden Grove, CA |
Harbie the Seal Los Angeles, CA |
Harbie the Seal Portland, OR |
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There are two Harbie the Sealsin Garden Grove at the entrance to CC Camperland-RV Park.
The Los Angeles Harbie the Seal stands outside of Sonny Alexander's Flowers. For more, see their website. These Portland Harbies came from a backyard in Beverly Hills, CA. The previous owner had six of these statues and left these two behind when he moved. In 2011, they were moved to a backyard in Portland. The new owners plan to restore one of the statues. Photo thanks Vintage Roadside. |
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More Harbie the Seals:
Lancaster, CA |
| Salty the Seahorse Mattapoisett, MA |
Giant Seahorse Thomasville, NC |
Blue Dolphin Diner Apalachin, NY |
Giant Dolphin Marathon, FL |
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Salty the Seahorse was built in the mid-1950s. The Sea Horse Gift Shop it promoted is long gone. It is built of plywood and stands 38 feet tall. Several years after it was built, it was coated with fiberglass to protect it from the elements. At night, the seahorse's blue eye (it's only a one-sided figure) lights up. The Seahorse was restored in 2000. It wears a Santa hat during the Christmas season. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.
The Thomasville Seahorse was part of the sign for the Sea Horse Nail Spa. In 2010 when this photo was taken, the business was gone but this sign still remained. The Blue Dolphin Diner features this giant dolphin on its roof. The Giant Dolphin (with the Baby Dolphin) stands at the Dolphin Research Center. He/she is 30 feet tall. The dolphin that starred in the TV show "Flipper" is buried at the Center. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. |
| Giant Dolphins Wildwood, NJ |
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| These Dolphin statues are located at the Starlight Fleet which features dolphin and whale watching trips. |
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More Dolphins:
Tallahassee, FL |
| Shark-Man Galveston, TX |
Great White Shark Washington, DC |
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This concrete Shark-Man statue was created by Don Canaday. It has been here for many years and withstood Hurricane Ike in 2008.
This Great White Shark statue was installed in 2010 front of the National Geographic Society museum. This display was to promote their "Expedition Great White" TV program. |
| Palace Beachwear and Gifts Corpus Christi, TX |
Bargain Beachwear North Myrtle Beach, SC |
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Palace Beachwear and Gifts features a giant shark entrance. Most of these souvenir shops only have mouth entrances -- not the entire shark body.
Bargain Beachwear features a giant shark mouth entrance. There are many other examples of these tourist shop sharks around the U.S. and elsewhere. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. |
| Shark Lakeville, MN |
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| This Shark is located at Hot Sam's Antiques. This photo is from 2012. It has a more realistic paint job in 2009. |
| Octopus Scranton, PA |
Giant Octopus Port Isabel, TX |
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This Scranton Octopus is located on the roof of Cooper's Seafood House. He holds a pirate in one of his arms. Cooper's building is shaped like a ship and there is also a lighthouse at one end and several other pirate statues.
This Port Isabel Octopus was pretty beat-up when this photo was taken in 2008. I'm not sure if it is still there. My guess is that the store below was some sort of souvenir stand. |
| Octopus and Pirates Wildwood, NJ |
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| This Octopus and Pirates are installed at Old Time Photos on the boardwalk. They were created by Mark Cline in 2011. The skull and wrecked ship are probably his work as well. |
| Octopus Car Wash Rockford, IL |
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| This Octopus Car Wash was established in Rock Island, IL in 1953. I believe the Rockford location is the oldest one left. The interior has a neon and a stained glass octopus as well. For more, see this website. |
| Octopus Car Wash Sterling, IL |
Octopus Car Wash Albuquerque, NM |
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The Octopus Car Wash in Sterling is the only other location in Illinois.
There are currently seven Octopus Car Wash locations in Albuquerque and another in Farmington, NM. This location was probably adapted from a pre-existing car wash. For more, see this website. |
| Octopus Car Wash University Ave. Madison, WI |
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| Octopus Car Wash E. Washington Ave. Madison, WI |
Octopus Car Wash Park St. Madison, WI |
Octopus Car Wash Milwaukee, WI |
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There are about 23 Octopus Car Wash locations in six states: Arizona (4), Colorado (3), Illinois (2), Florida (2), New Mexico (8), and Wisconsin (4). The spinning octopus mascot is named "Ozzie".
The University Ave. sign shown in the top row above had flags on the poles when the first photo as taken in 2006. The other photos of that location are from 2011. The front arm of the Park St. octopus curls back towards its body unlike the others which extend and hold a vacuum. |
| Shell Panama City Beach, FL |
Shell Fort Myers, FL |
Shells & Seahorses Port Isabel, TX |
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The Panama City Beach Shell stands next to a gift shop on Route 1. This shell might be gone as I did not notice it in 2009.
The Fort Myers Shell is located at the Shell Factory. For more, see their website. These Shells and Seahorses in Port Isabel are located in front of the Harris Sea Castle gift shop. This business is or was owned by U.S. Shell which is also responsible for the larger store in Los Fresnos, TX with even larger shells and other giant sculptures. For more, see this website. |
| Squirting Clam Long Beach, WA |
Pismo Clam Pismo Beach, CA |
Pismo Clam Pismo Beach, CA |
Clam Toms River, NJ |
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The Squirting Clam is about five feet tall and appears to be made of driftwood. It squirts water during the opening ceremonies of the annual Clam Festival. Another source says it squirts on the hour, every hour during the festival. For more, see this website.
This first concrete Pismo Clam statue is located at the entrance to town. It previously had a much less grandiose display. For more, see this website. The second Pismo Clam is at the Chamber of Commerce. This one is painted and decorated for various holidays. There is a third giant clam like this one at an RV dealership in town that is decorated in the same manner. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. The Toms River Clam stands next to the Maritime Museum. It was one of 25 installed in Ocean County in 2011. For more, see this website. |
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More Sea Creatures:
Oyster: 1, 2 (New South Wales, Australia) Octopus (Xiamen, China) Shark (Puerto Nuevo, Mexico) |
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Giant Animals Main Page |
| RoadsideArchitecture.com |