The whale will have the run of the river, for now.
Experts who evaluated the 12-foot beluga whale that made a 1,200-mile trip to the Delaware River said yesterday that the animal did not appear to be in any immediate danger and that it would be unsafe to try to capture him.
"Even if we wanted to catch the animal, we couldn't do it," said Larry Dunn, a beluga specialist with Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. "The animal is too strong."
One main threat to the whale now is humans - particularly boaters who might take to the river with good weather this weekend, Dunn and officials said.
Dunn was among a group of experts and officials who set out in a state police boat yesterday to assess the whale's condition. Although he noticed some lesions, Dunn said, he saw no indication the animal was in distress.
"It's in control of everything," Dunn said. "The animal is going to do what it wants to do."
Researchers in Quebec believe the sleek, white whale hails from the St. Lawrence River and is a nearly 30-year-old male named Helis (pronounced eh-LEE).
There are signs he is experienced with river life. Observers noted that he was able to avoid boats and to dive for five minutes at a time.
He is sticking to the channel, which is the deepest part of the river and runs closer to the New Jersey side. And he seems to have established a territory between Trenton, where the river ceases to be navigable, and Burlington City, about 18 miles downriver.
Identified by a large, helix-shaped scar on his back near his dorsal ridge, Helis was first spotted in 1986 among a pod of belugas that live near the St. Lawrence River, according to Canada's Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals.
Helis' appearance in the Delaware "constitutes the southernmost observation of the species," the group said in a statement yesterday.
Experts say he may be enjoying meals of shad, which swim upstream this time of year.
Helis also seems to have a schedule. He first appeared yesterday at Burlington City about 11 a.m. - almost the same spot and time as the previous morning.
"He's staying up a little longer today than he was yesterday," New Jersey State Trooper Gary Vona said.
Vona and Trooper Keith Trotman followed the whale to Trenton in a 21-foot open boat, making sure those in boats and other watercraft left him alone.
