Where The Krill Go, Whales Follow — And They Took This Humpback To The SF Bay Early
Where The Krill Go, Whales Follow — And They Took This Humpback To The SF Bay Early
A humpback whale has been spotted in the San Francisco Bay. It's young, it is healthy, but it is the first time a humpback has been seen this early in the year at that location.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
A humpback whale has been turning heads in the San Francisco Bay. It is young. It is healthy, but it's also a little early. Normally, humpbacks do not show up in the bay for another month.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Allison Payne is a researcher with the Marine Mammal Center, a nonprofit conservation group. She and a co-worker spotted the whale from the Golden Gate Bridge.
ALLISON PAYNE: At first, we really thought it was a gray whale because that's pretty common to see in the bay at this time of year. And so as we rushed down to Cavallo Point to take more photos a little bit closer, we saw the dorsal fin, and it was a humpback. There was no denying it.
KELLY: Now, this particular young whale was not one they had seen before. They knew based on the pattern on the underside of its tail. It's kind of like a fingerprint.
CHANG: Payne says warmer waters may be disrupting food sources for the whales, bringing them closer to shore.
PAYNE: As a one-off, I don't think that it's cause for alarm. But as a general trend, the fact that we are seeing more and more whales using the San Francisco Bay is something that we really want to pay attention to for management.
CHANG: And, she adds, if you see a whale in the bay, give it space. If you're on a boat, slow down. And lastly, if you get a whale of a shot with your camera, email it to the Marine Mammal Center.
(SOUNDBITE OF CLAP COTTON'S "ROSA")
Copyright © 2021 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.