HUMPBACK WHALE STUCK IN VENTURA HARBOUR

Last Saturday May 20th, a juvenile humpback whale, whose length was said to be between 9 and 11 metres, was spotted by a couple of yachtsmen inside the California’s Ventura Harbour.

Despite the prompt intervention of the Coast Guard that unsuccessfully tried to coax it back out to the ocean with sound signals, the whale remained trapped for two days in the port attracting a large audience of curious spectators.

Despite the emotion offered by the close encounter with the wonderful mammal, all the people interviewed expressed their deep sadness in seeing the trapped animal that could barely move in those restricted waters.

After many hours and different attempts, the authorities finally decided to close the harbour to both traffic and visitors in order to leave the whale alone to find its way out.

Coast Guard therefore established a perimeter in which no one could was allowed to entry and put two underwater microphones at the entrance of the harbour to help the whale find its way out.

Everyone was relieved and excited when, on Sunday morning, there was no longer any trace of the humpback whale within the port.

We thank Pacific Eagle Air Cam for the wonderful aerial pictures and CBS Los Angeles for news reporting.