Scientists are full of optimism after the wounded whales, the mother and the calf, had 39 km of successful swim in 24 hours to the Pacific.
Yesterday morning the two whales were noticed in Sacramento River near the Benicia-Martinez Bridge, about 72 km away from the ocean.
"Right now they are meandering, but we're hoping that they get it in their minds to keep going," said Rod McInnis, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Scientists took samples of whales' skin to test how deep are the injuries cause to the skin by fresh water. The whales need to get back to the salty waters of ocean to get well and to recover their injuries. Now the only hope is the antibiotics injected by veterinarians on Saturday, this will help them feel better. But scientists have noticed the calf is active, which is a good sign.
"It's still anybody's guess. The whales are going to decide what they're going to do and how they're going to do it," said Bernadette Fees, deputy director of the California Department of Fish and Game.
Currently nobody knows what the whales are planning to do, their actions are unexpected. Biologists are not trying to predict their next move, their just watching the whales and hoping that they will swim the right way. Veterinarians are ready to treat the whales in case of need, and biologists are trying to keep them away from boats, as they are near San Francisco Bay, because their noise may frighten the whales.
By Ruzan Harutyunyan for HULIQ
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