A gray whale who has been spotted frequenting San Diego's Mission Bay in recent months was last seen in the inlet on Sunday. And, despite what some concerned San Diegans might think, the whale is not there by accident.
Jeni Smith, curator of SeaWorld San Diego's rescue program, said their team and specialists with NOAA have been monitoring the whale since March and have not seen any signs of distress. The whale, which may or may not be the same one every time, comes and goes through the 820-foot-wide channel entrance as it pleases.
"As far as we can tell, it's not injured. It doesn't look sick. It looks like it has good body condition. We don't see any apparent injuries," Smith said. "And, so there really is no concern for us and no concern on NOAA's part as well."
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Smith said they don't exactly know why the whale is traveling in and out of the channel but notes that they've noticed it stays in the area -- which is actually just yards from the sealife theme park -- for a few days before swimming back out to the larger ocean.
Understandably, it's alarming for San Diegans to see a gray whale -- which can grow up to 49 feet long and 9,000 pounds -- in the shallow inlet that has a maximum depth of about 20 feet, which has prompted calls SeaWorld's rescue hotline. Smith said that is exactly the right thing to do and has used the opportunity to her advantage.
"The very first call I got about it, [the whale] was closer to Fiesta Island and the caller was actually trying to get in the water with it. So it was a great learning opportunity and teaching moment for me to talk to that caller and let them know that to appreciate from a distance," Smith said.
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She's putting it rather nicely. It actually may be against federal law to come within 100 yards of a whale, especially by boat. It's also illegal to feed marine mammals or to attempt to swim or touch them in the wild.
Local architecture photographer Nader Essa heard about the whale's return to the bay and, on Sunday, captured the marvel from a safe distance using his drone. He has a special connection with the ocean as a former diving instructor and "found this to be a perfect opportunity to go out and see a different mammal out there."
Essa quickly realized it wasn't going to be as easy as he thought to capture the whale on camera.
"They're only up there for you know, a few seconds. They take that breath, they might take another breath and they happen to dive down," Essa said. "When I'm viewing the window on the drone the screen, you know, it's kind of hard to pinpoint the whale."
He was, in the end, able to capture incredible video of the whale breaching and kicking up mud from the seafloor, which he shared with NBC 7. But there were also moments that caught him off guard and he had a message for some individuals who got a bit too close to the massive mammal on Sunday.
"Please just try to keep your distance from these animals not to distress them a little bit further," Essa said, adding that he doesn't want to discourage people from missing the spectacular sight.
"This is a perfect opportunity when you hear of something like this happening, where we have a whale in the bay, definitely come out to the shoreline so you could experience it firsthand," he said. "These animals are so majestic and so beautiful."
SeaWorld encourages people to -- from a safe distance -- take photos and videos of the whale and send them to to their rescue hotline so their experts can continue to monitor the sea creature's condition. The Rescue Hotline can be reached by calling 800-541-SEAL (7325). If someone is getting too close, a viewer can report poachers to CALTip at 888-334-2258.
