The Trenton Whale

Yesterday, a beluga whale was sighted swimming in the Delaware River near the Trenton Marina. Apparently lost, the beluga whale, a native of Arctic waters, was approximately 80 miles upstream from the Delaware Bay.

From the New York Times:

TRENTON, April 12 - A beluga whale appeared here Tuesday in the Delaware River, drawing hundreds of camera-bearing onlookers to the shore and worrying wildlife officials. Eighty miles upstream from the ocean, the whale was also more than 500 miles from the waters off Canada, where it should be at this time of year. It had already braved river traffic on its way north from the Delaware Bay past Wilmington, Del., Camden and Philadelphia to the fairly tranquil waters here. "It's extraordinary for a beluga whale to be outside its range and in waters this fresh and this shallow," said Bradley M. Campbell, the state commissioner of environmental protection...

The white whale - estimated by scientists and onlookers at 8 to 15 feet in length, with its age and sex undetermined - was identified as a beluga by a state biologist called to the river's edge after workers at a marina spotted it, Mr. Campbell said. It spent the afternoon circling just south of the landmark "Trenton Makes, the World Takes" bridge between the Capitol district and Morrisville, Pa. By late afternoon, whale-watchers lined the river bank, watching for a white arc breaking the surface at long intervals. As evening rush traffic jammed the bridge, television news helicopters churned overhead, and conservation officers in a small boat kept watch.

Via NBC10

Cries from the crowd of "Yo whale! What exit ya looking for?" did not help reorient the whale.

In related news, hearing about the lost whale in State waters, the New Jersey Legislature immediately convened a special session to levy a tax on it.