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Record number of whale pairs counted
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/living/876051...
Kathe Tanner
May 25, 2004
A record number of mom-and-baby gray whales are swimming their way back to Alaska, according to scientists who are completing the annual count at
Piedras Blancas.
The researchers have counted 450 cow-calf pairs since March. The record count was 501. But this year, because of budget cutbacks, spotters worked
fewer days.
"So this count is equal to one of 545 on the old schedule," said Wayne Perryman, marine biologist and whale expert from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's
Service's Southwest Fisheries Center. "What we saw this year exceeded my expectations."
"When the population seemed to crash a couple of years ago, we thought we'd lost a third of the population," he said. "Now, with this many calves this
soon, some of us are thinking maybe we haven't lost as many gray whales as we thought. Maybe in bad years, they just don't all migrate.
In 2000 and 2001, the count was half of this year's numbers.
On Friday, the talliers will close up shop for the year, packing away their King-Kong-sized binoculars and other high-tech equipment.
"We didn't have any whales yesterday or Friday," Rowlette said Tuesday. "And we only saw five last week. So I think it's over. It's been quite a show,
a heck of a good year."
Twice a year, the whales swim gracefully past Piedras Blancas, clocking in at about 3 mph, as they take one of the longest annual mammal migrations in
the world. They swim up to 5,000 miles between their feeding grounds in Alaska and Baja, where they give birth and breed.
As the grays surf past on the swells of the sea, the massive whales flip their flukes, spout water into the air when they breathe and occasionally
breach or leap out of the sea.
Fortunately, each spring when the moms and babies migrate north, nearly all of them swim very close to shore at Piedras Blancas. That makes them
easier to count and study.
"Sometimes, they're so close in that you can hear their breath," Perryman said last year.
The reason for the increase may be an earlier than usual melting of Arctic ice.
"Eastern Pacific gray whales have shifted their feeding grounds from the Chirikov Basin up into the Chukchi Sea. They are also exploiting other
feeding grounds, around Kodiak Island for instance," Perryman said. " Whatever they are doing, clearly it is working out well for them."
For several seasons, Perryman had hypothesized a strong link between when Arctic ice begins to melt and how successful gray-whale pregnancies are. But
while global warming may lead to early melting, Perryman isn't saying that means it helps the whales.
"Yes, with less ice, they can get to their food longer, but maybe ice changing would reduce the amount of prey," he said. "In truth, it's too complex
to say that global warming helps.
"It's a very complex puzzle. Every time we get two pieces placed, we figure out that the puzzle is twice the size we thought it was. Ah well, I guess
that's job security."
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thebajarunner
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Posts: 3687
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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Grays and Orcas
Sad to say, the Orcas are hanging out off Monterey and are shredding the calves as they are coming North.
Reports out of Monterey Bay this week say that it is by far the worst situation ever in regards to these "Wolves of the Sea" and their trashing of
their young cousins.
Baja Arriba!!
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6 Killer Whales Attack Grey Whale Calf
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=1903295&nav=EyAzNV4H
MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) -- A whale watching trip on Monterey Bay ran into some unexpected drama on Mother's Day, when a group of six killer whales
attacked an 8-ton gray whale calf.
Some of the orcas took turns ramming their heads into the calf while others leapt on top of it, trying to drown it. Meanwhile, the calf's mother tried
to shield it, rolling like a log and lifting her 20-foot baby on her back.
"It's the greatest predation event on Earth," said Richard Ternullo, co-owner of Monterey Bay Whale Watch, who watched the attack May 9. "It's 100
tons of whales crashing together."
Similar attacks have taken place throughout the spring as killer whales lay in wait for gray whales as they cross the bay, which is considered by
naturalists to be the riskiest stretch of the whales' 6,000-mile migration from the Baja peninsula to Alaska.
To the relief of the whale watchers, the calf's mother was able to lead her injured baby to safety in shallow coastal waters, where the orcas do not
go.
Other gray whales have not been as fortunate this season. About 15 calves lost their lives to killer whales this spring in 22 separate attacks.
Scientists believe this year has been particularly bloody because of a larger than normal number of gray whale calves born over the winter are now
heading north.
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