Injured whales lost in river delta

San Francisco -- Marine animal experts in California are still trying to coax two lost humpback whales back to sea.

A rescue team plans to use recordings of underwater noise Thursday to try to lure the mother and her calf from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the San Francisco Chronicle said Wednesday.

Animal experts have been banging on metal pipes for the past few days with little success.

Officials believe the animals were injured when they were run over by a boat. They have barely eaten in more than a week and their skin has become pitted and ragged.

"They're injured, they're not moving as fast as we hoped and the wounds aren't healing," marine mammal biologist Trevor Spradlin said.

The newspaper said the whales apparently made a wrong turn during their annual migration north. They will have to swim 70 miles to get back to the Pacific Ocean.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.