A mother whale and her calf, headed back North to Alaska after spending what we can only imagine was a lovely winter in Baja, got lost in the San Francisco Bay this week. The pair were first spotted East of the Golden Gate Bridge on Tuesday, but were later seen breaching the waters near Crissy Field yesterday afternoon.
Although the cow and calf are no doubt interesting and majestic creatures, officials would like to remind whale watchers that gray whales are under federal protection and boaters on the bay have been warned to stay at least 300 feet away so as to not separate the two. As one official from the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary told the press, the calf is "utterly dependent on its mother at this time." Despite the warnings, at least one boater has already been spotted harassing the poor sea mammals.
And because not everyone can get down to Crissy Field to go whale watching in the middle of the day, here is CBS5's Joe Vasquez with the report from the scene last night:
