Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
I've never heard of a whistling buoy before.
ebay
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I've never heard of one either, but that's what Google's for, right?
According to
www.merriam-webster.com, a whistling buoy is "a buoy that makes a whistling sound due to the action of waves and usually marks a shoal or channel entrance". A longer, more technical description can be found at
chestofbooks.com.
USC has a picture which looks remarkably similar to the postcard. It's titled "Close-up view of the whistling buoy off Point Fermin, San Pedro, 1890".
USC Digital Library
The following article is from the San Francisco Call, Volume 102, Number 106, 14 September 1907. It mentions the Point Fermin whistling buoy and another at Point Vincent - I'm guessing they mean Point Vicente.
California Digital Newspaper Collection
Four maps showing the location of the Point Fermin lighted whistling buoy can be found
here.