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Marina del Rey’s resident gray whale heads north, finally

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The gray whale that spent about three weeks swimming in the Marina del Rey channel has apparently decided it just can’t wait to get on the road again. The whale, a juvenile about 20 feet long, appears finally to be headed north to Alaska, animal rescuers told L.A. Now today:

[Marine Animal Rescue founder Peter Wallerstein] said that about 6:30 p.m. Friday, ‘something clicked in the whale, where it’s time to go.’

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... 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.’

California gray whales typically migrate from Baja California to Alaska each year between February and May. Wildlife officials had been concerned about the Marina del Rey whale since it first appeared in the channel, but were reluctant to interfere by trying to coax it out to sea. Instead, they cautioned boaters to keep their distance and even assigned a ‘babysitter’ from the National Marine Fisheries Service to monitor the whale.

-- Lindsay Barnett

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