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Pair Of Gray Whales Wander Into San Francisco Bay

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) -- A cow-calf pair of gray whales have made their way into the San Francisco Bay.

From the shores of Crissy Field on Wednesday afternoon, if visitors squinted their eyes, they could see the water blowing out the whales' blowholes.

Mary Jane Schramm of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said an NOAA staffer first spotted the whales on Tuesday.

"Someone got on the intercom and yelled, 'we've got whales up front,'" she said.

Whales wander into the bay every spring, but experts are worried that people might come too close to this current wandering pair and scare the mother away from her baby.

"We're asking people to please be respectful, stay a minimum of 300 feet away from them," Schramm explained,"(because) you run the risk of making Mom angry - which is not a good thing for you."

Schramm noted that there are civil and criminal penalties for people coming into contact with the whales.

"We've already seen one incident where a boater came jamming up next to it," she said.

(Copyright 2012 CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved.)

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