19th Century Weapon Found in Whale
The AP reported an interesting story recently...a 19th century weapon was found in a whale that was hunted off the coast of Alaska in May 2007. It is believed that the weapon was shot at the whale in the late 1800's, and the whales estimated age is between 115 years and 130 years old. It was a Bowhead whale and some reports indicate that Bowhead whales can live to be 200+ years old...pretty amazing. The whale probably had more life to live, but it was hunted as part of a native whale hunt. The whale was about 49 feet long and was male. The weapon was lodged in a bone between its neck and its shoulder blade. The type of weapon is an exploding device. Once it is shot into the whale, it explodes and is supposed to kill the whale. Often, as in this case, the weapon does not kill the whale, or does not kill the whale instantly, causing a slow and painful death. This whale escaped death the first time many decades ago, but not the second. These explosive devices are still used today and are often viewed as inhumane...it's easy to see why. Here is a picture of the weapon that was recovered from the whale (left), along with an in-tact weapon (middle) and a ruler (right). (The photo in this post is from the AP and appeared in a story on USA Today's web site.)

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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.

Does Military Sonar Sidetrack Whales?
There's an interesting video from National Geographic. It discusses the impact of military sonar on the Killer Whales in Puget Sound. Debate continues on the impact of underwater sonar on marine mammals who use echolocation as a means of navigation, communication, and foraging for food. It seems hard to believe that man-made noise is not having a negative impact on these mammals. What do you think?