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Gray Whale Migration Update: April 19, 2006

Today's Report Includes:

Gray Whale Migration Route
(Click on face of map)

Gray Whale Migration Off the California Coast: Latest Migration Data and Graphs
What changes have the past two weeks brought to whale counts at our two census stations California? Is the cow/calf migration firmly underway? Do you think the gray whale migration graphs do a good job telling the story of migration? Do our experiment with a partner to help you answer in your journal. See:

North to Alaska!
Rushing to their feeding grounds, whales are moving in Alaska! Approximately 25 gray whales were seen from Narrow Cape, Alaska, on April 10 — and all of them were cruising, heading SW in small groups of 2-5. On April 13, several grays were seen from Narrow Cape, Kalsin Bay, and Cape Chiniak. Farther south, a small group of gray whales that hang out and feed in Puget Sound arrived on March 5 and will stay through early June. This annual spring visit delights Puget Sound residents and visitors alike. The whales often feed close to shore. You might be surprised to learn that people have names for some of them! Read on . . .

Patch! How do you think he got that name?
Photo Michael H.Smith
Meet Patch: Link to Whale Photo ID Lesson
Cascadia Research of Olympia, WA has been studying the Puget Sound “resident whales” for decades. They have identified a group of six to ten whales that visit the area each spring. One whale (#49) is called Patch. He was first identified in Puget Sound in 1991. Patch is a favorite of many local whale watchers. They know him by the large white patch far back on his right side.

How is it possible to tell one whale from another, and see it year after year? CERF is a research group in Canada that shows you how it's done. CERF's Dr. William Megill invites you to meet some whales. Better yet, he lets you practice identifying whales along with him!
Counting the Calves: Field Notes From Wayne Perryman
“We had a great week counting gray whales,” reports Wayne Perryman. Mr. Perryman is the government's leading expert on gray whale calf production. “This was the second-highest weekly count since 1998.” They finished last week with 76 gray whale calves seen passing the site at Pt. Piedras Blancas, CA. “Saturday was our big day, with 20 cow/calf pairs sighted. This was the second-highest count for a day since 1998. Rememb
Who's the calf and who's the mom? How can you tell?
Photo Mike Hawe
er that in 2000 we only counted 96, and in 2001 we counted 87--but that was in the whole season, not just a week!”

Last time you looked at graphs showing the calf counts Wayne has collection since 1994. Some years were good. Others were bad:

Good Years, Bad Years: Discussion of Challenge Question #6
Will 2006 be a good year for calves? Last time you looked at Wayne Perryman's graphs of calf production as well as what scientists think about gray whales and changing sea Ice. This helped you answer Challenge Question #6: “What were the poorest years of calf production since gray whales came off the Endangered Species List? What might cause a good calf year? What might cause a bad calf year?” See what students from Iselin Middle School and Ferrisburgh Central School found when they looked at the graphs and thought about the causes:
Some observers call baby whales "pickleheads!" Can you guess why?
Photo Mike Hawe

NEW! How Can You Tell It's Calf? Link to Lesson and Challenge Question #7
It isn't easy spotting a gray whale calf on its journey north with mom. Official observers have to look very carefully before adding a calf sighting to their research data. Imagine that you're an observer by the ocean. Do you think you see a calf? Where? What clues helped you to know? Take a calf-spotting trip with our photos and field notes and see how you do!

  • Baby Whales on the Move

    After a good look at the calf photos and questions, send us your answer:

    Challenge Question #7    :
    “Find out how much you weighed when you were born. You can round up or down to the nearest pound. Imagine you gained 20% of your original birth weight each day for the first 3 months (90 days) of your life, like a baby gray whale does. If you gained as fast as a baby whale, how much would you have weighed at 3 months old? Why do you think whale calves put on so much weight so quickly?”

  • To respond to this question, please follow these instructions.
Field Notes from California's Channel Islands

A cow (right) and calf surface together in the Santa Barbara Channel. Gray Whales annually swim through the nearshore on their two-month journey from Baja California, Mexico to feeding waters off northern Alaska.

Photo Michael H. Smith, Gray Whales Count

April 13 was a big day at Gray Whales Count. Census Director Michael H. Smith takes us there with his words: “Today was a bonanza of gray whale friends, mothers, and calves. Between 9 and noon we saw 11 gray whales, including at least 3 calves. Then came a lunch break followed by another 11 gray whales, this time including 5 calves. It was crazy. The pairs came in all sorts of behaviors from milling to streaking; from flamboyant to napping; some milled; some rolled; a couple breached; some paired up; and we had one threesome that might have included a calf. Actually one of those whales breached too, and it may just have been rowdy teenagers acting like cowhands on the Ponderosa at payday. (Bonanza!)"

And you'll love THIS: “All the while there were BIG splashes between three and four miles out: humpbacks! Fred Benko, owner of the Condor Express whale watching boat, said: 'It's either a house falling into the water or a humpback whale.' This was two humpbacks (at least).” Do you wish you were there?

Field Notes from ACS/Los Angeles
The whale watchers near Los Angeles also reported plenty of calf capers! Can you imagine the fun for observers on April 17? They said: “Our first sighting was two cow/calf pairs. The calves breached and lunged so many times--the official count was 10 times each!”

Do you see the 3-5 throat grooves on the underside? These expand when the whale is feeding.
Photo Mike Hawe
Meanwhile, volunteer Mike Hawe reminds us that FOOD might now be on the minds of many gray whales, which make the longest migration of any mammal. Mike said, “Sometimes gray whales will wander into harbors or even mouths of rivers. Are they lost, or have they come to feed in the silt and mud? The ones I have personally observed seem to be feeding. Gray whales mainly feed in the Bering and Chukchi Seas of the Arctic. Ninety percent of the food they'll eat are tiny creatures just 1/3 to 1 inch in length, living in the mud and silt of the sea floor. In fact, a gray whale may sift through over 100 acres of mud on its summer feeding grounds. In five months of feeding, it may eat 67 tons of food!"

Surprised to hear how much whales eat, or that they feed in mud on the ocean floor? Learn more here:
Reminder! Have You Asked the Expert?
Don't miss your chance to ask Kim Shelden your toughest whale questions! Ask the Expert closes at noon CDT on Friday (April 21).
The Next Gray Whale Migration Update Will Be Posted on May 3, 2006.

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