Well, things appear to be looking up for the whales. I love the fact that while man was busily planning how to lure them, scare them, etc. they evidentally simply decided it was time to leave...
http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=28069
Whales Leave Port of Sacramento
Written by Jason Kobely, Internet News Producer
A pair of wayward whales began their possible trip home Sunday afternoon, venturing several miles up Sacramento's Deep Water Ship Channel on a course back toward the Pacific Ocean.
The whales began moving around 2:30 p.m. Sunday from the spot in the port's turning basin, Carole Singleton with the California Office of Emergency Services said.
By 7:00 p.m., the 40-ton humpback and her calf had moved near 15 miles south of Sacramento, just a few miles north of Rio Vista. The pair were accompanied by a small boat flotilla of Coast Guard, Fish and Game, Yolo and Sacramento county sheriffs boats trailing behind to keep the mammals from turning around.
"We're prepared to keep track of the whales for the rest of the afternoon and tonight," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration's Brian Gorman said.
Gorman said the greatest concern comes once the whales move out of the constricted Sacramento channel into the broader Delta, with tributaries and other waterways branching in several directions.
"Once they get into the Delta, there's a myriad of directions they can go in," Gorman said. "That's going to be a challenge."
Singleton said if the whales continue to the end of the channel near Rio Vista Sunday night, large boats will be stations to help block tributaries and keep the whales on course.
Gorman said the whales may have made their unexpected dash south after coming into contact with tug boats helping manuever a massive cargo tanker a half-mile from the whales' position in the Port.
The Sanko Jupiter docked at the Agrium Dock a half-mile downriver around noon Sunday. Gorman said once the whales started moving, the tugs helped keep the pair going past the tanker and further down the channel.
I hope mama whale heals from her injuries.
