Aiming for the Golden Gate, Delta and Dawn Are Almost Home

May 29, 10:34 PM

Current Headlines: By Bobby Caina Calvan and Dorothy Korber, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

May 29--Humpback whales Delta and Dawn are wayward no longer. They are swimming seaward with a purpose, speeding past Angel Island at 4:50 p.m. today and aiming for the Golden Gate.

That fabled portal marks the finish line of their remarkable, two-week saga.

Bernadette Fees, spokeswoman for California State Fish and Game, described the euphoria flooding the whale rescue team as the humpbacks sliced through San Pablo Bay.

When they reach the Golden Gate, she said: "We'll say goodbye -- and we'll wish them well."

Sailing in their wake is a flotilla of boats -- no longer "herding" the majestic creatures but now escorting them home.

"Everybody's really excited that hopefully these animals are heading out. Everybody's got their fingers crossed," said Jim Oswald, spokesman for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito.

The whales are moving on their own without any human assistance. The flotilla of vessels tracking them are there primarily to monitor their health and keep them from harm's way from ships and boats in these busy channels.

On Monday, authorities fished out at least two people who jumped into the water to attempt to swim with the whales, and issued verbal warnings to nearly two dozen others on piers and in kayaks. The whale team continues to ask boaters, kayakers and others to respect the 500-yard safety zone around the humpbacks.

A public whale update and call-in line, set up by the unified command that's overseeing the rescue effort, was hacked Tuesday. Officials said an unauthorized recording greeted callers for a while Tuesday, telling callers the rescue effort had been suspended because of a lawsuit. The line was down for a while Tuesday while officials removed the recording and re-established the line.

Before reaching the Pacific, the whales have one more bridge to navigate: the Golden Gate.

But the Carquinez Bridge and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge seemed to pose no obstacle to the pair. After some hesitation, they swam beneath its spans while a freight train rumbled by, blowing its horn. There was also a plane overhead and vehicular traffic on the bridge -- plus a gallery of onlookers.

Earlier this morning, there were euphoric shouts from spectators as the calf breeched from the water in a silvery spray -- behavior typical of healthy whale young.

Researchers think the antibiotics administered over the weekend are taking effect -- their skin condition is improving with some of the lesions sloughing off.

This 20-day saga has been a virtual treasure trove for researchers seeking to understand whale psychology and physical health. They have been taking still photos, video, and studying the whales' every move from tail lobbing to breeching -including their sometimes seemingly erratic behavior.

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