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Delta & Dawn...Back to Sea?
It sounds as if the humpback whale mother and calf who strayed from the Pacific Ocean to the Port of Sacramento found their way back to the ocean a couple of weeks ago. Let's hope their wounds are healing and that they're back on track with their proper migration pattern, probably heading to Alaska to feed. We heard a radio reporter wondering what the whales were eating while they were inland; he was worried that they might starve to death. If anyone else was concerned about this, it was probably not the most urgent issue at hand because the calf was surviving on its mother's milk and the mother often goes months without eating after giving birth and migrating back to summer feeding grounds...likely near Alaska. During migration, they usually don't eat, but once they arrive in the rich feeding grounds up north, they will eat and eat for a few months and will store up large reserves of blubber that allow them to survive without eating for long periods of time.

Humpback Mother & Calf Swim to Sacramento
Have you been following the story of the Humpback whale mother & calf (now named Delta & Dawn) who took a wrong turn in San Francisco and swam up a shipping channel all the way to the Port of Sacramento? They ended up about 90 miles inland and authorities have been trying a variety of methods to encourage them to turn around and head back to sea.

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It appears that they have each sustained injuries from either a boat propellor or rudder. Getting back to the salty water of the ocean should help the wounds heal, but the whales are taking their time getting home. They have turned around and are headed west, but have been reluctant to swim under the Rio Vista Bridge. On the map above, note the blue dot near Sacramento to see how far inland the whales swam. Let's hope they find their way back to the ocean soon.