While walking dogs, flying kites or bringing kids to the playground at Squalicum Harbor’s Zuanich Point Park, passersby may have taken note of a large statue overlooking Bellingham Bay.
According to the Port of Bellingham’s historical timeline, “Safe Return” was commissioned as a memorial statue for Bellingham fishermen who had died or been lost at sea. The initial development of the memorial began in 1974 by the Puget Sound Gillnetters Women’s Auxiliary, and started as a simple wooden panel with the names engraved on them.
On Memorial Day, 1999, the larger “Safe Return” was dedicated. It was created by retired Whatcom County anesthesiologist Dr. Eugene Fairbanks — the son of noted sculptor Avard Fairbanks.
The 16-foot statue is topped by a bronze fisherman casting a line, and the names are carved below on the 19-ton block of red granite. In total, it weighs 38,000 pounds and includes relief panels depicting various fishing industry scenes.
Take a closer look, and read the engravings, with a date range from the early 1900s to 2017 (many added after the statue was installed).
From 2003–2017, names include Michael Ross Anderson, David Horton Starbuck, Robert A. Davis, Ben Gillock, Albert Hillaire and David Barker.
Walk around the sculpture, and you’ll get the full impact of what it stands for. It reads: “Safe Return … In memory of fishers who have gone to sea … in pursuit of their livelihood … never to return.”
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