Delta and Dawn

I feel I would be remiss in my duties as a venting blogger if I left out any mention of the big THING that's been going on right here in the Sacramento River. I am talking about the surprise visit of two humpback whales, 90 miles from the Ocean, in the Freshwater shipping channel in Sacramento, California. This has been unbelievable for everybody. Thousands of people flock to view this Momma Whale and her 50 foot baby boy flip around in the river!

You can see how close they are to the shore! No wonder people are just coming in DROVES.

The whales are apparently wounded from a propeller, and also their sonar does not work in such close quarters, so they may be unable to navigate back home. Nobody knows for sure, but there is no food for them in this freshwater channel and the water is hurting their wounds rather than helping them! Apparently the saltwater in the ocean helps in some antiseptic way that fresh water does not.

This is a mystery and so exciting.

People care about the environment and the safety of these huge, wild sea beasts. So it is just amazing to me that all these people are leaving behind PILES of TRASH!!!! That's right! Water bottles and sandwich wrappers and orange peels and just thrown on the ground. I never can understand this! A water bottle is heavier when it is full, and you managed to carry it all the way from your car to the river bank, so what is the problem with carrying the empty bottle back to your car? Well, ALAS, I was not able to find a picture on the net of the junk floating near the riverbank or the crap left all along the shore, but the local news carried pictures of it and even said that a special crew would have to come along and clean up this mess. It just baffles me, is all.

In the meantime, I feel badly for these lost whales. I think the Momma came inland to protect her baby from sharks and predators while they were injured. And now they cannot find their way home!