Has any one else been following the saga of the two humpback whales, a mother and her calf, who wandered up the Sacramento River, and can't seem to get back to the sea? Apparently they swam up the river from San Francisco almost to Sacramento. They both have injuries which seem to have resulted from contact with ship propellers. There has been concern about this because salt water is much more effective at healing injuries than fresh water, and the longer they remain in fresh water, the more damage is done to their skin. Their injuries were diagnosed by marine mammal experts using photographs taken of the whales in the river and treated through the use of antibiotic darts.
According to CNN, a number of different attempts have been made to direct the whales back down river to the sea. The first attempt was to coax them back to the ocean by using their own music. Humpback whales are noted for the beautiful song- type sounds which they produce. Study is being done on these sounds and the communication which they signify. There are some interesting websites dealing with the songs of humpback whales. One such website is whalesong.net This website has an archive of whale songs, a page of answers to frequently asked questions about humpback whales and an explanation of how these whale songs are recorded. If you have Windows Media Player on your computer, you should be able to listen to the archived whale songs. Another website on whale songs has been done by National Geographic. Here you can listen to humpback whale songs and the transcript of a National Geographic program on humpback whales in Hawaii. In order to do this you need RealAudio which can be downloaded from this site for a 14 day free trial.
Other attempts to move the whales down river have been partially successful. One attempt involved the use of fire hoses to disrupt the water near the whales in the hope of forcing them back in the other direction. Another attempt involved banging on pipes. The whales have also been surrounded by sightseers in small boats and even swimmers trying to reach them. All of this is stressful even for healthy whales, doubly stressful for whales which are ill or injured. Boat traffic and car traffic on bridges also seems to discourage them from swimming back down the river. Scientists are still trying to trying to decide how best to handle the situation.
There are a few other websites with good information about whales. These sites are done by conservationist groups extremely concerned with whale hunting. One such site is done by Green Peace, another by World Wide Whale. PBS Nature has also produced a program on the humpback whale.
If you love whales, keep following this story on CNN, and be sure to enjoy the material available on these beautiful sea-going creatures.