Traveling back from Oregon we took this photo off of the bridge that crosses the Klammath River. We had heard about and seen photos of this whale and her calf for most of the summer. In the beginning people seemed excited and happy that a whale had swam upstream with her calf, but over time it became apparent that something was wrong. When this photo was snapped the mother grey whale was alone and the mood on the bridge somber and quiet as it was obvious she was not OK. Her calf had recently left her side and was spotted back in the ocean where it belonged. They tried herding the cow back to sea with boats and fire hoses and load noises. All to no avail. She just endlessly circled under the bridge and yesterday she beached herself. I was hoping to post this photo with a happy ending, but it was not to be. This morning at 4:19 she breathed her last breath.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Klammath River Whale
Traveling back from Oregon we took this photo off of the bridge that crosses the Klammath River. We had heard about and seen photos of this whale and her calf for most of the summer. In the beginning people seemed excited and happy that a whale had swam upstream with her calf, but over time it became apparent that something was wrong. When this photo was snapped the mother grey whale was alone and the mood on the bridge somber and quiet as it was obvious she was not OK. Her calf had recently left her side and was spotted back in the ocean where it belonged. They tried herding the cow back to sea with boats and fire hoses and load noises. All to no avail. She just endlessly circled under the bridge and yesterday she beached herself. I was hoping to post this photo with a happy ending, but it was not to be. This morning at 4:19 she breathed her last breath.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Oh how sad! I always wonder what they're thinking, how do they get turned around like that?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comment. I will still be around, and maybe blog again in the future. Stay tuned for the book!
That is sad. I'm glad the calf made it to open ocean. I agree with Mikey - whales can do some strange things. Whether they have a purpose or not is probably something we'll never know.
ReplyDeleteGood picture.
Dan
That is just sad, heard about her on the news and was wondering what had happened to her.
ReplyDelete