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chuckie
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Thank you so much for this! My daughters, landlocked in Colorado and Texas, are following Varvara as I have been..fascinating...
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Mulegena
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This has been fascinating to watch, and I wish the university would allow the public access to her whereabouts more than once a week.
We can all write to Bruce Mate, the director of her monitoring program and ask if he'd change the parameters and perhaps engage in dialogue here on
the board.
It'd be great if her tracking device is still functioning next season.
Thoughts on tagging and tracking devices, pros and cons:
To learn a bit about the mysteries and wonder of these marvelous mammals of the ocean is an extraordinary experience, no doubt about it. From another
perspective however, from the whales' eyes, perhaps not welcome at all.
On another thread it was reported numerous whales in San Ignacio were tagged and this led me to consider whether doing this is a breach of trust--
particularly in the birthing lagoons where the mothers and babies are accustomed to gentle daily interaction with the boats. They know the pangueros
and, as Shari noted, they react strongly, intelligently and with negative emotion when they are tagged. Does it hurt physically? Perhaps. Does it harm
them emotionally? Perhaps.
These are intelligent beings. We're their guests in their watery home.
Dialogue, anyone, on this thread or the other, referenced here: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=58980
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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shari
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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This is one tagging effort that HAS certainly been useful and of great interest. I cant wait to see where she goes to feed. I'm not sure why you would
say she seems to be heading back to russia...the route she has taken is the traditional migration route north....she's enjoying the yummy food at the
river mouth's of Vancouver Island that are rich in amphipods and this time of year the whales who have lost a third of their body weight bulk up
feasting on herring roe they suck off eel grass....yum yum!!!
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Mulegena
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Thanks for the opportunity for clarification and education, Shari.
I'm not an educated layperson, so its but my musings that she's headed back to Russian waters. I suppose she's headed there as she's historically been
in those waters.
It'll be great to see where she chooses to summer and if by chance her signaling device holds true, wouldn't it be great to see her return south next
fall?
True, her tagging has been one grand opportunity for a glimpse into the life of a whale to learn about these wonderful beings who share our planet.
Could you share a little more about what you've learned and personally seen of the northern summers, Shari?
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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rts551
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Sure glad they did the tagging. Look what useful information researchers are gleaning from this effort.
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shari
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as I mentioned in another thread, gray whales dont all go to feed in Alaska...the majority do but many whales dont swim all that way north. Dr.Jim
Darling, a leading gray whale researcher discovered that some grays feed all summer long in bays in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia...he found
this out when he was surfing one summer in Tofino and noticed that he saw the same whales catching waves with him...which is when we began to do photo
ID that proved some whales stay the whole summer to feed there...which was very helpful to the whale watching companies that sprang up after that.
One interesting thing was that these summer residents didnt arrive till later after most migrating whales passed by...these whales arrived in May or
later meaning they either left Mexico later or just slowly made their way up north instead of B-lining for Alaska. It wasnt the same whales every year
that fed in that area although some did return. Perhaps whales that were sick or weak didnt make the swim all the way north...or perhaps they just
liked the food better around the old growth forests.
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Mulegena
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March 18-25, 2012 Question: Is she going to head back west or stay in the Eastern Pacific waters this summer?
Weekly Update: This week Varvara was traveled from Vancouver Island up to Baranof Island and was offshore from Sitka. This is north of (but close to)
her arrival point where she came near shore when she crossed the Gulf of Alaska and then headed south.
Here's the link.
http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/Sakhalin2011
Anyone making reference to these data needs to acknowledge the source of the data by using the following text: "This research was conducted by A.N.
Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS) and Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute in
collaboration with the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, Kronotsky State Nature Biosphere Reserve and the Kamchatka Branch of the Pacific
Institute of Geography. The research was contracted through the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) with funding from Exxon Neftegas Ltd. and Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd."
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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shari
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thanks Maria...I imagine we will see in the next couple weeks what she will do...I'm so curious so please keep the updates coming.
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mtgoat666
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theory
| Quote: | Originally posted by shari
thanks Maria...I imagine we will see in the next couple weeks what she will do...I'm so curious so please keep the updates coming.
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i think gray whales frequently go back and forth between russia and USA. in past 5 to 10 years whale numbers in baja were way down, then this and
last year see record numbers. where were the whales? i think they were mating and birthing in russia past few years, and for some reason decided to
come back to USA west coast and baja. after they saw a good year under obama they came back, it was the bush years they stayed away... those whales
are not stupid.
that's my theory, and i am sticking to it!!
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woody with a view
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hey Goat, thanks for the humour! this place needs more of it on occassion.....
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Mulegena
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| Quote: | Originally posted by woody with a view
hey Goat, thanks for the humour! this place needs more of it on occassion..... |
If Sara Palin were a Nomad
we'd be gettin' daily updates of the Russian whales' whereabouts from her bathroom window!
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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woody with a view
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Mulegena
| Quote: | Originally posted by woody with a view
hey Goat, thanks for the humour! this place needs more of it on occassion..... |
If Sara Palin were a Nomad
we'd be gettin' daily updates of the Russian whales' whereabouts from her bathroom window! |
i thought it was her front yard. the outhouse in back couldn't see Russia. even if it had a window!
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: | Originally posted by woody with a view
| Quote: | Originally posted by Mulegena
| Quote: | Originally posted by woody with a view
hey Goat, thanks for the humour! this place needs more of it on occassion..... |
If Sara Palin were a Nomad
we'd be gettin' daily updates of the Russian whales' whereabouts from her bathroom window! |
i thought it was her front yard. the outhouse in back couldn't see Russia. even if it had a window! |
i don't think she lives in AK any more -- she moved to lower 48 to be nearer to her right wing nut fan base, nearer to the cameras.
anywho, she thinks wildlife is for killing, so probably not into whale watching
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Mulegena
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She is indeed heading back to Western Pacific waters
Last week the research team couldn't locate her and wondered if the batteries in her tracking device had failed, but here she has been located once
again directly following the Alaskan coastline but clearly heading west.
http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/Sakhalin2011
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Mulegena
Last week the research team couldn't locate her and wondered if the batteries in her tracking device had failed, but here she has been located once
again directly following the Alaskan coastline but clearly heading west.
http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/Sakhalin2011 |
most all whales head west to unimak pass to get to bering sea. big news will be if she goes left or right at unimak. is she going to west pacific or
chugach sea?????
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Cypress
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And if a conservative responds to this silly liberal chit-chat it's considerd a "HIGH JACK".
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Mulegena
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Cold flippers
" This week saw Varvara travel from False Pass, east of Unimak Pass on the south side of the Aleutian Peninsula to Herendeen Bay 290 km NE of Unimak,
where she encountered heavy sea ice, and has turned around to arrive at a position 180 km NE of Unimak Pass. "
Varvara, our Baja Girl, ran into water too cold so she had to retrace her steps. She's probably dreaming of the Baja sunshine right now.
A visual of her encountering the ice and swim back.
http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/Sakhalin2011
Our girl's cold now 
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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shari
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thanks for the update Maria...keep it up!
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chuckie
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WHY Do you people have to use every opportunity to inject politics into every thing? This is about a whale not politics..Some of us enjoy this board
and its content, on the subject posted..go elsewhere....
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Mulegena
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'way up north in the ice and snow...
http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/Sakhalin2011
This is so cool-- cold, actually.
Varvara is heading west by skirting the ice flow.
Its interesting that these Grey Whales seem to prefer to keep to a shoreline, no matter their locale-- north or south, warm or cold waters.
Neat that she's still wearing her tag and its still operating. For me this is a first-time opportunity to get a glimpse into their lives and migratory
patterns.
Keep on the move, Varvara, and come back to Baja soonest!
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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