Teapot pareidolia.
From the Rose Lab at the University of Utah:
In 1875, with the intention of creating a money-making tourist attraction, James Wickham decided to bring whales to Great Salt Lake. He had two 35-foot Australian whales shipped to Great Salt Lake (by boat to San Francisco and then by rail to Salt Lake City) wherein he released them. Off they swam, never to be seen again! Though there have been several alleged whale sightings, scientists believe that they could not have survived the lake's high salt content.
Old time-y people were idiots!
Also, if you ask the internet what a whale on a train looks like, it offers up this helpful fart_train.jpg:
