VIDEO: Humpback whale spotted in Sacramento River near Rio Vista
RIO VISTA, Calif. (KGO) -- A humpback whale was spotted in the Delta near the Rio Vista Bridge on the Sacramento River, drawing attention from witnesses who said the animal came close to shore.
The whale was seen near the Rio Vista Bridge on the Sacramento River on Wednesday, but at least one fisherman reported spotting the animal a day earlier near Benicia.
Experts say humpback whales are not commonly seen in those waters, making the sightings particularly noteworthy.
"At first it was kind of mindblown. I couldn't process it," said Josue Mejia Blanco, who spotted the whale while salmon fishing Tuesday near Dillon Point in Benicia.
"I thought it a submarine at first," he said.
Mejia Blanco said he realized what he was seeing only after the animal surfaced.
"It wasn't until it spit out a bunch of water, that I thought it was a whale," he said. "It was half the size of a school bus or the size of one."
Around noon Wednesday, Denny Glover of San Ramon said he saw the whale about a mile south of the Rio Vista Bridge while fishing on the Sacramento River.
"It would breach, it would spout take a breath of air and then go back down," Glover said. "I've never seen one up the river like that. None of us have ever seen one up here other than Humphrey on TV."
Later Wednesday, Margaret and Cliff Harlow spotted the whale while driving along Sherman Island Road.
"We'd go further down as fast as we could and then jump out and then it would catch up to us," Margaret Harlow said.
Cliff Harlow estimated the whale was about 30 feet long.
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"He was big," he said. "I believe it was heading back to the ocean."
"It was heading southwest," he added.
"Not back toward the bridge," Margaret Harlow said.
Witnesses said they were astonished to see a humpback whale so far from the ocean.
"We were just flabbergasted that there was a whale this far upstream," said Glover.
After spotting the animal Tuesday, Mejia Blanco contacted The Marine Mammal Center. He said experts told him the whale might be the same one that had been seen near Richmond a day earlier.
In a statement, The Marine Mammal Center said: "While it's unknown whether this whale is just passing through or if there is an underlying, unknown ailment, the best thing people can do is experience this adult whale's presence from a respectful distance."
The organization said its team is monitoring the whale and urged the public not to interfere with its movements.
"Our team is actively monitoring the situation, and we kindly ask the public to please avoid changing the whale's course and let the animal decide where it wants to go," said Kathi George, director of cetacean conservation biology at The Marine Mammal Center.
According to the center, the whale has been identified as CRC-11620, an individual humpback whale that has been documented 15 times over the past 24 years in California and Mexico. The whale's sex is unknown.
Officials said the whale entered San Francisco Bay earlier in the week and continued east through the Bay and into the Delta. It was first reported in San Francisco Bay on Sept. 15 and later documented near the Richmond ship channel, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, the Carquinez Strait, Benicia and Dillon Point before being reported farther inland near Collinsville and Sherman Island.
As of Wednesday, there had been no new sightings reported. The Marine Mammal Center said it continues to monitor the situation and advises anyone who encounters the whale to maintain a safe distance and allow the animal to determine its own course.
