Gray Whale Observation Posts: Week of April 16, 2003 Kodiak, Alaska: Whales Have Arrived! April 3 was the day: "At least 13 gray whales around Narrow Cape at 1:00 p.m. AST, 3 of which were very close to shore, thus migrants. 4 additional gray whales off Spruce Island at 1:40 p.m., reports Kathy Hough (57.42, -152.3). HOORAY! Seward, Alaska: Kenai Fjords Tours Captain Leslie Hines shared the excitement with us upon the first sighting of the season on April 1! April 2 brought 6 grays, outside of Agnes Cove and moving quickly. Leslie says, "It appeared that there were two 1- or two-year-old calves. Three or four grays were see on April 3, 2 miles South of Cape Resurrection. No more sightings of gray whales until Apriil 12, when 6 were seen at Cape Resurrection. Vancouver/Tofino and Ucluelet, British Columbia Jamie wrote: "Well, the migration seems to be slowing early this year. We had great numbers of whales in March and the first week of April; however, this past week sightings have been not as good. With only a few Gray Whales passing the shores, the boats are finding it difficult to locate the whales. We are hoping that this is just a lull between the males and adolescents that arrive first and the calves and cows who arrive later in April. We did have our annual visit from ''Cashflow,' a small white-headed Gray Whale that has been coming into the inlet now for about five years. He/She usually stays for about a week or two; however, some over-zealous whale tour operator just couldn't resist trying to get close and with its approach, 'Cashflow' headed quickly out to sea. We just cannot wait for the Fisheries to start dealing with these rogue drivers! We have had a few Gray Whales inside Barclay Sound out of Ucluelet already this spring, but they were only up the inlet for a few days. It was a bonus for all as the weather was too bad to get out into the ocean, so we were all treated to some 'calm-water' whale watching! The weather has been simply atrocious since mid March, making this spring one of the worst for whale watching on memory. Hopefully the weather will improve and we can get back into full swing soon! (''Cashflow' got his name cause he was the only whale around for about six weeks one May about five years ago, and he spent all that time up in a nice calm bay up the inlet during another spell when the weather was really bad for quite a while. Cashflow not only delighted the tourists, but he single-handedly saved the whale operators season! As to the bad driver, he was foolish enough to do this after all the other boats had left, but not smart enough to realize that he had done this up the inlet where lots of people live, including myself, and watched his performance! I witnessed it and called our office to get on the radio and tell him to get away from the whale. I am sure he must have been surprised!)" , Cheers, Jamie at Jamie's Whaling Station and Adventure Centres Westport, Washington Captain Geoff Grillo of Advantage Sport Fishing reports: "A scattering of whale watch trips have been getting out over the last week. Sightings have been few-- not any big numbers here right now. I crab fished 2 days and saw 4 groups of whales one day and only one whale the second day in the inside 25 fathom area south of Cape Elizebeth. It appears that fewer but still a steady migration is occuring. A good friend in Fort Bragg, CA tells me he is still whale watching with good success, so we should have more sightings to report over the coming days or weeks. Talk to you later!" Waldport, Oregon The spring watch week for ?Whale Watching Spoken Here? (44.96,-123.85) is an annual official event for Ms. Silen?s class from Taft Middle School in Lincoln City, Oregon. They reported: " Several members of my class assisted as volunteers to help the tourists learn more about our Gray Whales." We invited the students to share photos and tales with you, so stay tuned! Santa Barbara, California Carol writes with news from the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS): "In 52 sightings, 102 adult Gray whales and 6 calves were seen. The migration seems to have slowed down, with several days having no whale sightings. There many instances of fluking reported, and one report of a gray playing in the kelp." Naturalist's comments: The whale was swimming very slowly, rarely spouting, and it disappeared for long periods with out sounding. Very active whales fluked 6 times every 2-3 minutes; joined by a sea lion. I have been asked several times if whales are mammals. They would be mighty BIG fish. Point Vicente, CA (ACS /Los Angeles Gray Whale Census) "We have seen a lot of variations in our sighting numbers this week, starting off very slow but ending on a high note, report Mike and Winston. "April 13 Great day for cow/calf pairs! We just surged ahead and now have more cow/calf pairs going north than 4 of the last 19 seasons. And there are reports that there are still a lot of cow/calf pairs in Laguna Ojo de Liebre. As of April 10, we now have more northbound whales than 5 of the last 19 seasons. "Overall the season is going great. We were slow to get started but really picked up the sightings in January. Sightings did drop in the last week of January, giving us the impression the southbound migration was over, but things picked up again the first week in February. Sightings remained steady throughout February into mid-March, peaking around the week of March 8th. So far in April, we are just a little above average with news of lots more whales to come, especially cow/calf pairs." Point Piedras Blancas (Wayne Perryman's Cow/Calf Census near San Diego) "Last week was steady, with a big day on the 8th of 14 c/c pairs. So far we are up to 45 pairs, which is the third- highest count for the 10 years of survey effort. So they are early, there are lots, or maybe both!" reports Wayne Perryman. Copyright 2003 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form