Humphrey the Whale

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Humpback whales live in the open ocean.

Humphrey the Whale is arguably the most widely publicized humpback whale in history,^[1][2] having errantly entered San Francisco Bay twice, departing from his Mexico to Alaska migration. This behavior is not normal for any Humpback whale, and Humphrey became well known on national television and press coverage for his misadventures in the years 1985 and 1990. Humphrey is a member of the species Megaptera novaeangliae, and each episode of his bay excursions resulted in a dramatic estuarine rescue of this giant mammal by the Marine Mammal Center, based in Marin County, California, assisted by the United States Coast Guard and hundreds of other volunteers. Humphrey (sometimes known in the media as Humphrey the humpback whale) is 40 feet (12 m) long and weighs 80,000 pounds (36 tons). Humphrey’s last sighting was in the vicinity of the Farallon Islands in the year 1991.

[edit] Humphrey's Journeys Inland

Humphrey the whale with unique fluke markings

In 1985, Humphrey mysteriously entered San Francisco Bay and was followed closely on the evening news by all Bay Area television stations.^[3] Each evening the Bay area audience would tune in for the latest update on Humphrey’s plight, until even more amazingly he swam up the Sacramento River into a freshwater habitat. Then national media coverage began and the whole country watched the ensuing story. The whale, first spotted at Oakland's Outer Harbor October 10, 1985, swam up the Carquinez Strait, the Sacramento River and under the Rio Vista Bridge to a dead-end slough 69 miles (111 km) from the ocean.^[4]

The Drama Unfolds: Humphrey's inability to find his way out of the slough after numerous attempts failed to coax him, kept the nation and now the world enthralled. Several weeks of being trapped in the fresh water of the Sacramento Delta was exhibiting in signs of physical stress in the whale. His skin was graying and he was becoming more and more listless. None of the traditional herding techniques were working and the world held it's breath as Humphrey appeared to be dying.

As a last ditch effort and an eleventh-hour solution, Dr. Bernie Krause, an acoustician, offered the recordings he had made of humpback whale feeding songs as a possible way to lure him out. No one knew if this would work, but it was their last shot at saving Humphrey. However, to get the sounds into the water he needed a powerful speaker and amplification system that only the Navy would likely have. He contacted Greg Pless who was in charge of the underwater acoustics research laboratory for the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where one of the few high-power J-11 underwater transducers existed in the country. Greg and his colleague Dale Galarowicz quickly gained Navy permission and rushed the equipment to Rio Vista, CA where Humphrey was last seen.

Early the next morning, the equipment was loaded onto the private yacht, Boot Legger, donated by it’s owner for the rescue effort. Directed to the location in the slough where Humphrey was last seen, the speaker was lowered over the side of the boat, the sounds were played, and everyone stood quietly while the eerie songs reverberated through the hull. Suddenly, Humphrey emerged from the water at the bow of the ship right where the speaker was playing, and gazed at the startled crew. The Captain quickly started down the river with Humphrey close in tow. With the assistance of numerous fish and wildlife agencies, including the Army's 481'st Transportation Company (Heavy Boat), the crew led him the many miles back down the Sacramento river, alternately playing and not playing the whale songs to keep his interest.

As they approached the San Francisco Bay, and the water gained in salinity, Humphrey was visibly excited and began sounding (diving deeply) to everyone’s delight and amazement. The air was filled with helicopters and the river banks were lined with thousands of spectators all cheering Humphrey on to freedom. Though the crew lost sight of him that night, they picked him back up in the morning and led him out through the Golden Gate bridge, to the freedom of the Pacific Ocean November 4, 1985, at 4:36 p.m., where he promptly headed South to parts unknown.

The town of Rio Vista considers the Humphrey visit to have given it national recognition, and to this date there is a granite marker^[5] at the harbor commemorating the visit and local restaurants menus remarking on his stay in Rio Vista.

Tail flukes have unique markings allowing identification of each individual

Humphrey stayed a considerable time in 1990 in the embayment immediately north of Sierra Point in Brisbane, California where occupants of the Dakin Building could observe his antics. Humphrey became beached on a mudflat in San Francisco Bay to on the north of Sierra Point and to the south of Candlestick Park. He was extricated from the mudflat with a large cargo net and support from the Marine Mammal Center and a U.S. Coast Guard boat.

This time, he was successfully guided back to the Pacific Ocean using a "sound net" in which people in a flotilla of boats made unpleasant noises behind the whale by banging on steel pipes, a Japanese fishing technique known as "oikami." Simultaneously, the attractive sounds of humpback whales preparing to feed were broadcast from a boat headed towards the open ocean. Researchers Louis Herman and Bernie Krause led a team of scientists who used sound recordings of natural whale feeding vocalizations to guide Humphrey back to safety. These sounds were produced for a swimming trajectory of fifty miles (80 km) until Humphrey reached the Pacific Ocean sometimes attaining speeds of thirty miles per hour (48 km/h).^[6] Humphrey has been seen only once since the second misadventure, at the Farallon Islands in 1991. A film “Humphrey the Lost Whale” was produced and opened at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center, Savannah, Georgia on September 24, 2005.

[edit] Two More "Wayward Whales"

The calf "Dawn" in the Sacramento River in 2007 with the Antioch Bridge visible in the distance

In early May 2007, two humpback whales, a mother and her calf, entered San Francisco Bay and swam up the Sacramento River approximately 90 nautical miles (170 km) upstream from the Golden Gate, about 20 miles (32 km) further inland than Humphrey had gone two decades earlier. Just as with Humphrey, staff from The Marine Mammal Center, researchers, Coast Guard personnel, and volunteers tried several methods to coax the whales back downriver. They played recordings of feeding sounds and other whale vocalizations to lure them, and they banged on submerged metal pipes and sprayed high-powered blasts of water to repel them, but it is not clear whether any of these were particularly effective. There was heightened concern for the whales' well-being this time, because both of them had sizable gash wounds, most likely made from boat keel or propellor strikes. Veterinarians from The Marine Mammal Center administered antibiotics to the whales to help heal these deep open wounds, and they took samples of skin lesions incurred during the whales' extended time away from seawater to analyze them for possible freshwater bacterial infection.^[7]

On May 20, after languishing for six days in the Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel, the whales finally started moving. They were spotted the next day about 20 miles (32 km) downstream, just upriver from Rio Vista, where they lingered for several days, seemingly hesitant to pass under the Rio Vista Bridge. On May 27 they were on the move again and were spotted the next day another 20 miles (32 km) downstream in the saltier waters of Suisun Bay, just 45 miles (72 km) or so from the ocean, but again their circling movements seemed to indicate a reluctance to pass beneath a bridge, actually a trio of bridges this time at Benicia. On May 29, however, they again moved quickly, passing under the Benicia Bridge in the morning and swimming through the Carquinez Strait and past yet another pair of bridges. By late afternoon they had continued through San Pablo Bay and were circling just beyond the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge near Tiburon. They were last spotted at sunset that night, within 10 miles (16 km) of the Golden Gate Bridge and the open ocean beyond.

A small controversy arose over what to call the whales as soon as they were spotted far enough upiver to warrant significant attention. Besides being called "the Wayward Whales," they were also dubbed "Momma" and "Baby", "Rio" and "Vista", and "Delta" and "Dawn" (for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and the popular 1970s song Delta Dawn). Rumour has it that California's Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi was the one to bestow the last pair of names upon the whales.^[8]

The story of the wayward whales inspired local television anchor Stefanie Cruz to write a children's book based on the tale. "Delta & Dawn: Mother and Baby Whales' Journey" which was released November 2007. Cruz is an anchor for CW31/CBS13 in Sacramento.

[edit] Description

Humphrey and other humpback whales can readily be identified by a stocky body with well defined humps and black upper elements. His head and lower jaw are covered with knobs called tubercles, which are actually hair follicles and are characteristic of the species. The tail flukes, which are lifted high in the dive sequence, have wavy rear edges.

The long black and white tail fin, which is approximately one third of his body length, and pectoral fins has a unique pattern, which enable scientists to positively identify Humphrey, in a similar way to the bill markings on Bewick's Swans. Several hypotheses have been suggested to explain the evolution of the Humpback's pectoral fins, proportionally the longest fins of any cetacean. The two most accepted hypotheses are that the higher maneuverability afforded by long fins is a significant evolutionary advantage, or that the increased surface is useful for temperature control when migrating between warm and cold climates.

The humpback whale is a mammal which belongs to the baleen whale suborder. It is a large whale: an adult usually ranges between 12–16 m (40–50 ft) long and weighs approximately 36,000 kilograms (79,000 pounds), or 36 tonnes (40 short tons).^[9] It is well known for its breaching (leaping out of the water), its unusually long front fins, and its complex whale song.^[10] The humpback whale lives in oceans and seas around the world, and is regularly sought out by whale-watchers.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Voice recording of sounds that lured Humphrey to safety
• Children's book inspired by Delta and Dawn