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update: <\/b>As of 6 p.m. Friday, Cascadia Research and WDFW, with assistance from members of the Chinook and Shoalwater Bay tribes, conducted an extensive water search today for a young gray whale seen in the Willapa River over the past two days. No whales were seen in the river today. Officials hope it has returned to the sea.<\/i><\/p>\n
—<\/i><\/p>\n
On April Fool’s Day, a young gray whale made its way up the Willapa River and reached beyond the small town of Raymond, Washington, shocking residents who had never seen a whale that far upriver.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t a joke.<\/p>\n
The whale entered the river from Willapa Bay near Bluesport and headed east along Highway 101, passing through South Bend and Raymond.<\/p>\n
“It was my first time seeing a whale,” said Christine Balcomb, who lives in South Bend near the Willapa River. \u201cSeeing that cow in the middle of a cow field was moving and surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The river continued upstream under the US 101 bridge, then entered a narrower, winding road that eventually cut through farmland until it reached the Camp 1 Road Bridge. In total, the whales moved upstream about 32 kilometers out of the ocean. As the crow flies, we arrived at a distance of about 19 miles east of the river entrance and about 20 miles from the coast.<\/p>\n