Scientists were working on a plan to help two injured humpback whales return to the Pacific Ocean after a failed attempt to lure them out of a shipping channel using recorded underwater sounds.Early Friday, the mother and her calf remained at the Port of Sacramento, where they hit a dead-end after traveling 90 miles through the San Francisco Bay and up the Sacramento River.
The use of the humpback whale recordings on Thursday was scientists' first attempt to direct the whales back to sea since they appeared in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta last weekend. But, with little success, they called off their efforts shortly before 5 p.m.
"The biologists were experimenting with different sound patterns and different vessels to see which ones will appeal most to the whales," said Ed Sweeney, a Coast Guard spokesman. "It's going to be a long, slow process." (Watch the whales from a traffic helicopter )
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