Blanche adjusts her nest on the island at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, April 30, 2014. Blanche died at the age of 28, city parks officials said.
Paul Chinn, Staff / The ChronicleBlanche, a recently widowed swan — and an iconic figure at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts where she lived practically all her life — died at the age of 28, according to the city’s Recreation and Park Department.
The mute swan died last week in Sonoma County, where she lived since July 2022 following concerns about lead in the urban soil and avian flu. After a lifetime in San Francisco, Blanche reunited with her son, Stanley and “ruled the roost,” her caretaker said.
“The other swans recognized her as queen and never one day passed where she wasn’t appreciated and given love,” said Gayle Hagerty, who has been caring for the Palace swans for more than three decades.
Blanche’s official cause of death was not immediately released.
Blanche was born May 5, 1994, at the Palace of Fine Arts. Park officials attested that her parents were deeply in love; on daily walks, they’d touch their chests together before making a heart shape with their beaks.
Blanche spent her early years in the Palace’s lagoon with a growing family: her parents; her brother, Mortimer; and her sisters, Knuckles and Monday II. But she would weather countless tragedies on the water.
First, Mortimer mated with Knuckles and became territorial once their cygnets hatched; he eventually killed his father and injured his mother.
In 2010, someone stole Friday, Blanche’s mother. The swan was recovered in the backyard of a private home in the avenues and re-homed. After that, an assailant broke the neck of Blanche’s sister, Monday. A culprit was never found.
But in 2011, everything changed for Blanche. The swan found Blue Boy, who almost immediately became her mate and co-parent.
“Blanche inspired animal lovers and romantics at the Palace of Fine Arts,” said Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the Park Department. “Her beauty and grace rivaled that of the Palace itself, but it was her extraordinary personality that won over our visitors. She was a perfect ambassador.”
For a time, Blanche and Blue Boy — both mute swans — reigned as queen and king of the lagoon on a daily diet that included corn, clover and Cheez-Its as a special treat.
But life had its up and downs. In 2014, The Chronicle reported on the “carnage” along the lagoon, as onlookers witnessed the pair’s cygnets running for their lives away from Blue Boy, their father, evidently frothing with filicidal rage.
Ultimately, parks officials decided the pair shouldn’t have any more offspring.
In 2021, Blue Boy was found dead at 17 after being treated for lead and zinc poisoning. Blanche’s blood also contained high levels of zinc and lead, but she recovered. Park staff worried about what her future on the water would look like without Blue Boy, and the loneliness that would set in.
Blanche is survived by her son, Stanley; her caretaker, Gayle Hagerty; and the thousands of fans from around the world. The Park Department asks people to get outside and enjoy a park in lieu of flowers.
Annie Vainshtein (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avainshtein@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @annievain
