Recordings fail to move California Whales

Sacramento -- Scientists are taking a break from efforts to use recorded whale sounds to lure a pair of wayward humpbacks out of California's San Joaquin River Delta.

An adult humpback and its calf have been seemingly stuck in the murky river in Sacramento and have refused to follow recorded whale calls back toward the Pacific Ocean.

Whale expert Bernie Krause told the Los Angeles Times Saturday the team would resume the use of the recordings next week. He added that the whales generally respond to recorded sounds only about 10 percent of the time.

Krause enjoyed a high-profile success in 1985 when another humpback, nicknamed Humphrey, chose to follow the recorded sounds and was led some 100 miles back to San Francisco Bay and into the Pacific.

The Sacramento Bee and a local radio station are sponsoring a contest to select names for the current wrong way whales.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.