New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park Enshrined in LEGO

As the father of two kids, I've overpaid for my fair share of LEGO sets and accessories in my day. I can't even tell you how many trips to Toys 'R Us we made over the years in the search of just the right ninja guy for my son's LEGO collection. The green ninja guy, the red ninja guy – they all have special meanings and have their own particular set of skills.

It makes me wonder how rare the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park rangers will be to SouthCoast kids. Sometimes it's not easy to find some of these Lego people, so no telling how challenging it might be to find these New Bedford park rangers.

A Facebook group highlighting National Parks around the country has highlighted an extremely timely and local LEGO vignette featuring some familiar sights from the Whaling City.

The Whaleman, who lives in real life outside of the majestic New Bedford Public Library on Pleasant Street, has been protecting the citizens of New Bedford for nearly 107 years. He is included in the National Park vignette, and instead of pointing his spear at a would be-whale, he seems to be using it to strongly suggest that passers-by implement the six-foot social distancing rule.

Some are interpreting that it's an even more aggressive message than that.

The New Bedford National Park ranger, who is appropriately masked, is also wielding a spear, appearing to echo the suggestion that the concerned-looking, masked pedestrian to keep his social distance.

It's all in good fun, however, because the New Bedford National Park rangers responded to the Facebook group, thanking them for the shoutout and using whale emojis.