This Week's Update Includes:

• News: Baby Boom?
• Photo Gallery: Babies in the Nurseries
• Tracking the Migration: Daily Data

Gray whales are boogeying past the Pacific coast in record numbers to reach the warm waters of Mexico. Many have already arrived. It's birthing time, and the best place for that is the warm, salty waters of Baja Mexico. The lagoons are like bus stations, with whales coming and going all winter and early spring. New mothers nurture babies, while older whales are there for fun. As they return northward, we'll share sighting news from a network of observers.

Counting the Whales Passing California
As we start the Journey North season, the ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project (Post #6) has been underway since December 1. Their 29th season started off with some record numbers! Project Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger reports: "Our trained volunteers counted more southbound gray whales in December 2011 than in any previous December!" They came in higher numbers and at least one week earlier than normal. So far they've seen just 5 northbound grays.

Baby Boom in the Lagoons?
Tour guide Keith Jones at Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Post #3 on the Migration Route) sent the numbers: 492 adults and 316 babies as of January 23.

Looking Ahead
This season we'll be watching to see the turnaround period—when northbound whales start to outnumber southbound whales. We'll watch for three distinct pulses, or surges in numbers, to discover which age group is migrating. We'll hear from the government's leading expert on gray whale calf production and how it's connected with ice in the Arctic.

Read Field Notes
Click on the map to see the migration route and Observation Posts. Click on a red dot to read the Field Notes at that post.

Take a look at our baby photo album from the gray whale nurseries. Use the journal page to explore facts you know and questions you have:

• Photo Gallery: Babies in the Nurseries
• Journal Page: Life in the Nursery Lagoon
• Explore: Baby Whales and the Nursery Lagoons

Get ready to track the migration! It's still early in the data collection, and very few whales have been seen on the journey north. Let's get acquainted with the data you'll see—and where it is from. Start here:

• Read About This Study
• Explore this four-step plan for using daily data:

Access Data	Record Data	Graph Data	Analyze Data