California IN BRIEF : SAN JOSE : ‘Humphrey’ Whale Gone, Feared Dead

For the first time in seven years, Humphrey the humpback whale wasn’t seen off the California coast this fall and researchers fear he may be gone forever. The 40-foot, 40-ton whale became an international celebrity in 1985, when he spent 25 days wandering in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta before returning to open waters. Since 1985, researchers had seen Humphrey every year between July and the end of November in the chilly, nutrient-rich Pacific waters between San Francisco Bay and Bodega Bay. He last was seen in October, 1990, in San Francisco Bay, when he became beached on mud flats near Candlestick Park and caused a major traffic jam as commuters slowed to catch a glimpse. Crews worked two days to free the whale. Now experts fear he may have swum into the great beyond. “It’s not looking good for him,” said Ken Balcomb, a marine biologist at the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Wash.