Biologists in California Suspend Whale of a Job

RIO VISTA, Calif. (AP) — Marine biologists temporarily halted efforts to coax two lost, injured whales back to the Pacific on Thursday morning after the sounds of clanging pipes, feeding humpbacks and killer orcas failed to induce the pair to head back to saltwater.

The mother whale and her calf were last spotted about 70 miles from the ocean in an area of the Sacramento River where they have been circling for several days, said Carrie Wilson, a biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game.

Marine biologists had planned to broadcast recordings of attacking orcas to scare the wayward whales back to saltwater Thursday morning but decided instead to give the pair a break.

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