I write to you on behalf of the Institute of Inland Whale Studies (IIWS), a research organization established in Tempe, Arizona in 1997, to bring to your urgent attention a matter of significant public safety concern regarding the Tempe Town Lake project, currently scheduled for completion later this year.

It is our considered scientific opinion, based on more than two years of field research, sonar surveys, and analysis of historical Hohokam archaeological deposits in the greater Salt River basin, that the riverbed and subsurface canal system underlying the proposed lake site is currently inhabited by at least one — and possibly several — specimens of Physeter desertica, the Sonoran Desert Lake Whale. This creature, an inland subspecies of the oceanic Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus), is believed to have occupied this drainage system continuously for a period exceeding one thousand years, predating the founding of the City of Tempe by some considerable margin.

We understand that this claim may strike your office as extraordinary. We assure you it is not made lightly. Enclosed with this letter please find copies of our sonar data (Appendix A), photographic evidence recovered from the east bank survey conducted in October 1998 (Appendix B, photographs marked          through      are classified pending further review), and a summary of relevant Hohokam bone deposit findings by               , Professor of Archaeology at             University (name withheld at subject's request).

Our primary concern is this: the filling of Tempe Town Lake in 1999 will not displace the whale. It will, in effect, provide it with an address. The creature — which our measurements indicate to be approximately 47 to 52 feet in length and of profoundly aggressive temperament — will find itself in an enclosed, highly trafficked body of water surrounded by paddle boats, kayakers, ASU rowing teams, and Fourth of July spectators. We consider this a situation of serious and foreseeable public danger.

We respectfully request a meeting with you or a designated representative of your office at your earliest convenience. The Institute is prepared to present our full body of research and to discuss mitigation strategies, including but not limited to: (1) delayed lake filling pending further investigation, (2) installation of sonar deterrent equipment along the perimeter, (3) signage advising lake users of the potential hazard, or (4) engagement of a qualified harpoonist on retainer for the duration of the lake's operation.

We recognize that option (4) may present certain logistical and public relations challenges. We raise it nonetheless in the interest of completeness.

Time is of the essence. Construction is proceeding rapidly and the window for intervention narrows with each passing week. The Institute stands ready to assist the City of Tempe in any way within our considerable expertise. We would be remiss, as scientists and as residents of this community, if we did not exhaust every avenue to ensure this matter receives the attention it deserves.

We await your response.