I'd heard of Popeye my first two times at Friday Harbor but never spied her. On my third trip, my boys and I diligently searched for her along the Spring Street dock. Finally, on my fourth trip to the island, I docked at a different pier and noticed a group of people standing along a corner dock near a food shack. There was Popeye, bobbing for food which the crowd readily provided her. I immediately noticed that her eye was oddly colored and swollen. Didn't anyone else notice it? Had a vet checked her out?! Why did no one else seem concerned about this obvious disabling condition she apparently had? I got back to the Victoria Clipper to hop on board for the 2nd half of our day tour and ran my concerns by the naturalist on board. Her response?
“Um, that's why she's named Popeye.”
I slapped my hand against my forehead. How did I fall into that trap? For fifteen or more years, Popeye has frequented the port of Friday Harbor with that very same disfigurement. Hence her name of Popeye. I'd even seen the statue of her the city erected at the small park along the water, a statue which included her bad eye. Yet, I still had somehow missed that Popeye was so named because she was blind in one eye. I share this information to save any reader from the embarrassment I faced when they too first see Popeye. :-)
Here's an interesting article on her history.
