Goodbye

Barges with cranes work to remove Hero from a tributary to Willapa Bay, at Bay Center, Washington, in early August 2022. Photo by Jeff Clemens published in the Chinook Observer, 9 August 2022. The work is being done by Ballard Marine Construction under a $1.8 million contract awarded by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Total costs may exceed $2.5 million due to contaminated material...the funds were specially appropriated by the Washington State Legislature. Much more information and additional photos can be found in the 9 July Chinook Observer article "Hero dies: Memories of Antarctic explorer will endure in Maine", which includes information about the potential artifact recovery by the Antarctican Society. Funds were raised for the shipment of salvaged items to Maine.
Below...a series of photos taken by local resident Becky Jones-Will and used by permission. She drives past the site every day.
The beginning of recovery operations...12 July 2022.	27 July...a boom has been installed around Hero..
3 August...the crane barges are on site.	4 August...barge repositioning, and Hero is under water at high tide.
The following photos were taken at 0750 PDT on 11 August 2022.
Removal operations.	Crane barge with containers.
Looks like the Hero's back is broken.	A notice to residents about the removal operations.
15 August...nothing left above water. Below...photos from the morning of 19 August.
There isn't much left.	A closer look at the empty boom.
Digging through the remains...looks like the barge with the open top containers has departed.	A closer look at the backhoe digging through the rubble.
More coverage: this 15 August article in Construction Equipment Guide... ...as well as a 26 August article in The Astorian. To be continued...stay tuned.