Cross Country
Coaxing Back the Wayward Whales
In a sign of just how impoverished human-whale communications remain, a team of marine biologists was largely frustrated in its attempts to cajole two wayward humpbacks out of the Sacramento River Delta and back into the ocean last week.
The mother whale and her calf are believed to have taken a wrong turn during a northward migration in the Pacific, ending up 90 miles down the river. Early last week, biologists had succeeded in coaxing the whales about 20 miles back in the right direction, but by week's end the cetacean pair was still circling in the river about 70 miles down the delta.
Because humpbacks are highly sensitive to sound, biologists have been trying to lead the whales with friendly noises, like fellow humpbacks, and not-so-friendly noises, like killer orcas coming from behind. They did not respond to the natural noises but showed some aversion to a human-made cacophony. Next up: using firehoses to herd them along.
A Major Upgrade in Accommodations
Just days after he is released from prison this week, the larger-than-life former mayor of Providence, R.I., "Buddy" Cianci, will start a new job in sales and marketing at the fashionable Fifteen Beacon Hotel in Boston.
Cianci has been behind bars since 2002, after being convicted on one count of racketeering. The colorful Cianci won accolades for revitalizing downtown Providence during the second of two decade-long stints as mayor, but he resigned in disgrace after being accused of overseeing widespread corruption. He still has a few weeks left on his sentence, which he will serve in a halfway house while working at the Beacon.
A party that the Beacon had planned for its newest employee was canceled late last week after the Bureau of Prisons indicated that it would not look kindly on such a celebration.
With Nikki Schwab and Chris Wilson
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