Fresh water is taking its toll on wayward whales
After 10 days cruising the Sacramento River and delta, two wayward humpback whales are beginning to show the first signs of ill health from prolonged exposure to fresh water, experts said Tuesday.
Midafternoon, the mother and calf put on a display of tail flipping, which biologists described as a potential sign of stress, as the whales continued to swim in a broad loop at the north edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta near Rio Vista.
Biologists said the whales’ wounds, believed to have come from a ship’s propeller, were not healing as well as expected.
Dr. Frances Gulland of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, Calif., said the whales’ skin, normally smooth and shiny, had begun to turn pitted and irregular. Fresh water can impair the healing ability of skin cells in saltwater animals, such as whales.
In hopes of coaxing the whales back to sea, a dozen vessels from the U.S. Coast Guard and state Department of Fish and Game continued to shadow the creatures, occasionally banging steel pipes in the water to create a noise that might drive them downriver.
But experts said they were engaged in a delicate balancing act -- trying to prod the marine mammals back into salt water while avoiding putting too much stress on the creatures, because stress also can impede the healing of wounds.
High winds and choppy water prevented for a second day attempts to plant a satellite tracking device on the mother whale.
Officials plan to hit the water early Wednesday with the same flotilla and try to press the whales toward the saltier waters of the delta’s confluence with San Francisco Bay.
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