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Sharksbaja
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Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
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"dont get me started....." How else to get good factual info. Ya know I just like to tease stuff outta people. I read a couple years back that you
were part of a team that ID'd orcas. Do they have any type of similar cetacean program in Baja?? Not the whale pangueros but a Fed program?
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shari
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Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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When Dr.John Ford and Graham Ellis began the photo ID program in the pacific northwest...everybody got in on it...there was a whale hotline too to
report harrasment. Fishermen, tourists, water taxi captains and crews all sent in ID photos to the fisheries department and they published an Orca
catalogue.
It is an interesting story on WHY photo ID was started in the first place. Graham Ellis was a young fisheries officer who was posted as an observer
Bob Wright's whale capture boats that went out and ruthlessly rounded up way to many Orcas in order to capture an aquarium candidate. He owned Sea
World in Victoria B.C. and sold orcas to aquariums around the globe for megabucks.
Graham was really disturbed by the cruel capture methods and began to believe that it just wasnt right....he also noticed the family ties in a pod and
how they stick together etc. He was fascinated by the Orcas family structure and went on to become a leading Orca researcher.
Now...he also suspected that there were not as many Orcas as once thought and so he designed a method of identifying them in order to do a census
around Vancouver Island. He figured if he could prove there werent many Orcas...he could present justification to stopping the live capture around
Vancouver Island of Killer Whales...which he DID!! Graham is my hero and a really cool guy too.
An international ID method is to photograph the dorsal area from the right side to identify the unique saddle patch patterns and dorsal fins. When the
first catalogue was put out there were only something like 330 Orcas around Vancouver Island...it's a cool catalogue showing all the family members in
a pod...males never leave their mothers pod...mamas boys!
Gray Whale photo ID was the brainstorm of a surfer kid from Tofino who is now the leading gray whale expert Dr.Jim Darling (who is just that) because
when he was surfing he noticed the same whales surfing beside him and hanging out in the bay all summer...so he ID''s them and discovered lots of
interesting things...one big breakthrough in gray whale research was that not all whales go up to the arctic...he proved that many whales spend the
summers feeding in their own areas all along the northern US and Canadian coast...and many of the same whales came back year after year...I had the
privelidge of hanging out with Jim and learning the photo ID ropes from the masters.
Now when I was hanging out in Ojo de Liebre, i had lots of questions that photo ID could answer so began just shooting away there. When the biosphere
took over the lagoon, I taught them how to do effective photo ID and made up a catalogue of my work. the silly thing was that they wanted left side
photos!!! I explained that all photo ID is based on right side ID's but because they had some left side pics they wanted to go with that...whatever...
But it is a huge long term project that wont be funded or carried out effectively. There is some photo ID done by the university but very little. I
would LOVE to see a concentrated effort in all 3 lagoons simultaneously that would provide us with lots of neat info like whether whales travel
between lagoon or stay in one all calving season...if whales return to the same lagoon they were born in...if nurse whales are related...if the
"matriarchs" are related etc.
It also helped us identify aggressive whales..like if a particular demonic whale was hitting boats then we could show the photos to capatains so she
could be avoided...sometimes what seemed to be an unprovoked attack in one observation area really wasnt as the whale had just been run over by a tour
boat in another part of the lagoon so she was taking her anger out on every panga she encountered. It is good practise for captains to note and
identify whales they see everyday so they can pass on relevant info such as she is very friendly or aggressive or sick etc.
[Edited on 6-6-2009 by shari]
[Edited on 6-6-2009 by shari]
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Sharksbaja
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Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
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Wow, this is good stuff! Those are some good questions Shari. Whale behavior is very interesting and it's neat to learn how they behave in different
places along their travels.
I have mixed feeling tho about whale watching. Sure it can and is done responsibly but I just wonder exactly how many(whales) approve of this human
interaction. Like you said, some whales are put off by nosey people, just like you and me haha.
Think about it..... you wouldn't want prying eyes in your bedroom circling around now would you(please say no). Are whales shy?
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13049
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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please dont get me started on pesky whale petters....looks like you and me gotta get together for some whale gossip sharkie...my opinions on whale
watching arent real popular.
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Sharksbaja
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Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
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You go girl. Once a rebel always.....
Been impossible to travel much this last year. Hoping for a better year. Love to visit your neck of the desert. Hear sooooo much!
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13049
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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Sharks....it's all about justice....in any race...creed...color...species.
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