Anyone going to see the 2 Humpback Whales in the Sacramento River?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(F8L @ May 16 2007, 06:23 PM) [snapback]443848[/snapback]</div>

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Probably not. I live about 15 miles from the Sacramento river (near Matinez). The locals up the river who have stood on the levee for hours, have rarely seen them.

I did get to see "Humphrey" back in 1985 when I was at the "Nantucket Seafood Company" in Crockett!

 

Hopefully they make their way back!

 

Happy birthday, F8L! Whale watching in a river - even better than submarine races!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ May 16 2007, 11:02 PM) [snapback]443969[/snapback]</div>

Um, come to think of it, I've seen both!

I saw Humphrey in the Sacramento River from an airplane, and then again while driving south over the Carquinez Bridge (also the Crockett area). He was west of the bridge and much closer to the Crockett side. He was easy to spot because of the flotilla of boats herding him out.

The submarine races were in the Indian Ocean during the Iranian Hostage Conflict. I was stationed aboard an aircraft carrier. There was another carrier a couple hundred yards away slowly steaming parallel to us. Two submarines circled around the carriers, one to the left, the other to the right. They met up at the aft of the carriers and started to sail between. As soon as they reached the line between the carrier sterns the race was on. I don't know what their finish line was, but they both wanted to get there first . . . probably a bet between the captains. Yes, submarines do race . . . and they are much quicker than I ever thought. :blink:
I guess even submariners get a little stir crazy being out to sea for half a year without a port call. :lol:

I'm not going to go see these two whales, even though they are within five miles from my house. I'll not add to their stress - as the biologists say the onlooker are doing. I'll just wish them well from afar.
http://www.kcra.com/video/13335167/index.html

 

Word at the marina is that whales are returning from their winter breeding grounds malnourished. They have been spotted in bays and inlets along the CA coast where they don't usually go. I'm not positive of their feeding habits, but I think they don't feed much after they leave Alaska in the fall. If so, their malnourished state may indicate a collapse of their food source, which began last year before their migration. My neighbor researches (and has testified before congress) about effects of navy sonar on dolphins, whales and other marine mammals. There's evidence of brain hemorrhage on beached sea mammals, most likely caused by loud underwater noise.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ May 17 2007, 12:14 PM) [snapback]444205[/snapback]</div>

Just curious- who is your neighbor? Sonar and marine mammals has been the mainstay of my work lately.
I heard on the news that both of the whales have wounds from ships' propellers, but they don't appear to be life threatening. Hopefully they'll be able to lure them back out to sea, as the best thing for them is to be in more saline water.

 

Here's my humpback pick from Alaska 2005.

 

My GF's birthday was today, and she wanted to go see the whales, so we went out to the Port of Sac early this morning (about 7:30 am). I got a few pictures from the levee, but none were very good.

Apparently at 2 pm or so this afternoon, the whales started moving down the deep water channel and are being escorted back towards the bay by a group of small boats. Hope they make it ok, as of 10pm they are still on the move in the correct direction.

 

The whales are now near the Bay Bridge.

Looks like they are going to make it back to the Pacific Ocean ok.

 

Researchers believe the whales have made it back to sea.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...AG9EQ3TU818.DTL

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ May 17 2007, 01:04 PM) [snapback]444376[/snapback]</div>

That is one sweet pic! Were you on a cruise?

Wildkow