Gray whale is done with Marina del Rey, finally heads north
A 20-foot-long gray whale that had been frolicking in the Marina del Rey channel for about three weeks has left the area and appears to be headed north to Alaskan waters, animal rescuers said today.
The whale likely swam up from Baja California en route to Alaska and may have picked the channel as a rest stop. It stayed there for weeks, roaming around, going out to sea and then returning for unknown reasons, said Peter Wallerstein, founder of Marine Animal Rescue.
Wallerstein said that at about 6:30 p.m. Friday, "something clicked in the whale, where it's time to go."
California gray whales migrate south each winter to the waters near Baja California. From roughly February to May, they migrate to northern Alaska. Wallerstein said he followed the whale out of the area on land, watching closely with a pair of binoculars as it swam about 400 yards offshore and went past the Santa Monica Pier and along the coast before heading for deeper waters.
"I felt relieved. It got to be a real problem with boats getting too close and I was worried about the safety of the whale," Wallerstein said. "Just glad it had a happy ending."
-- Ari B. Bloomekatz
Photo: Los Angeles Times
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EDITOR'S PICKS:
See - even the whales are leaving CA. Oceanographers have determined that the whale was fed up with the prospects of higher taxes and will be moving on to the no income tax state of Washington.
Posted by: edlaw | June 22, 2009 at 02:05 PM
Yep, as a CALIFORNIA gray whale,the prospects of getting yet another, in a L-O-N-G series of, RAW deals, has forced this local to depart for greener 'pastures' where he won't be taxed to death, nor flayed, to provide for illegal immigrants, and those 'Saintly Freakaholics' in SF.
(Sadly edlaw, WA is another state where the 'liberals' are as FREAKY as SF.... Seattle is OVER-RUN with homeless, halfway houses, and a disproportionate share of drunks and druggies, to say nothing of ABSURD extremist liberals - Geo Bush's mirror twins!! - that love to spend, spend, spend....and get NOTHING in return.)
Posted by: Gimme A BREAK! | June 22, 2009 at 04:53 PM
Goodbye and watch out for Icelandians and the Japanese!
Posted by: kevin | June 23, 2009 at 08:03 AM