This whale needs to check Google Maps.
What experts say is a very rare occurrence, a humpback whale getting lost in a crocodile-affected Australian Australian river on its way to Antarctica. It is unclear how or why, when the whale lost its way, scientists suspect it took the “wrong turn”.
“As far as we know, this is the first time this has happened,” representatives of Kakadu National Park, where the river is located, wrote in a statement.
The situation began early last week when three humpback whales entered the East Alligator River (which, despite its name, is actually home to crocodiles), “an unusual phenomenon,” the statement said.
By Thursday, two of the three whales had managed to find a way out of the river, but one remained. Now, park staff is working to help free the final struggler.
“We have set up an exclusion zone about a kilometer upstream from the mouth of the East Alligator River,” they said in a statement. The move is to protect both whales and boaters. “The last thing we want is a collision between a boat and a whale in the water where crocodiles are prevalent and there is zero visibility under the water,” he said. “We also don’t want boats to inadvertently push whales into the river.”
Despite being confused in directions, whales are in good spirits.
The whale is not in current distress and is not in a state of emergency, the statement said.
If the whale is unable to get out of the river quickly, however, the Cucumber employee is combining various strategies to help him do so. “These options range from minimal intervention as we monitor whales, actively intervening to help the animal get out of the river,” Fach Moyle, head of Kakadu’s country and culture department, told CNN. “The highest tide of the year will be in a few weeks, so there’s a window for him to have a chance to sail to the sea.”
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