Gray Whale Migration Update: February 5, 2003
Today's Report Includes:
- Welcome to the Whale Trail
- First Whale North: Challenge Question #1
- Field Notes from Mexico?s Laguna Ojo de Liebre
- Kiss for a Baby Whale
- Southbound Babies: Link to Lesson
- Holy Cow! What a Calf: Challenge Question #2
- Pickleheads and Field Notes from Point Vicente, CA
- Daily Whale Numbers on the Web: Watch for Turnaround Date!
- What?s This? Looking Ahead
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Gray Whale Migration Route |
As you sit in your cozy classrooms today, California gray whales are in two-way traffic along the whale trail (see map). Many are still plowing south on their 5,000-6,000 mile swim from their frigid arctic feeding grounds to the warm, sheltered lagoons of Baja Mexico. Many gray whales are in the lagoons right now, mating or giving birth in the warm, salty waters. But some adult and subadult whales who arrived earlier have already started the journey north, back to their arctic feeding grounds. We'll share first sightings and news of the gray whales? remarkable journey north from a network of scientists, boat captains, and volunteer observers all along the whale trail. Get set to discover fascinating things about these gentle giants on the 2003 journey north!
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Photo Mike & Winston |
The first gray whales passing Point Vincente near Los Angeles, CA on this year?s journey north were spotted December 29, 2002. From so far away, how can the shore-based whalewatchers tell Gray whales apart from Orcas or Fin whales? At what speed do migrating gray whales usually swim? Find out from our expert whale watching friends, Mike & Winston:
After reading Mike & Winston?s clues and facts, you?ll be ready to answer our first Challenge Question. Hint: It will help to pull out your atlases and measure the distance between Point Vincente, CA (57.45N, -152.73W) and Kodiak, Alaska (57.45N, -152.73W).
Challenge Question #1:
"When do you predict the first northbound whales seen Dec. 29 will reach Kodiak, Alaska?"
(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)
Field Notes from Mexico?s Laguna Ojo de Liebre
Since December, gray whales have been arriving in the four calving and mating lagoons of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. (Click on the Web map dots above to read more about each lagoon.) Keith "Baja" Jones, Whale Tour Guide and friend of Journey North, describes some sights in Laguna Ojo de Liebre:
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Babies look like pickleheads. Photo Mike & Winston |
Gray Whale Nursery Lagoons |
"We sat in our panga [small motorboat] while drifting quietly near a resting mother and her very energetic 9-foot baby. This baby was getting great joy from rolling and rubbing on his mother?s head, scratching himself on the barnacle clusters. This amazing and extremely touching action took place when the water was perfectly calm and smooth as glass. We were able to see the baleen inside the baby?s mouth. We saw his eye very clearly as he looked at us floating nearby." Read on for more about those wonderful babies!
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Clip: Kissing Baby Whale |
Do you wonder what it would be like to float in the panga and have a huge gray whale mother and her curious baby glide up to the boat? Some lucky teens from Knoxville, Iowa show what it?s like. They went on one of Keith Jones? whalewatching tours to Mexico last winter. Here?s Keith?s video clip of a teenager kissing a baby whale!
IMPORTANT: Please read the Tips for viewing video clips. We've got you covered with any instructions you need so you don't miss this big-as-life experience! We have a library full of new video clips. Our video clips can be played only with Windows Media Player. This software is available free. You'll be able to use it with all clips, so it should be worth the trouble to install.
Mac users and some Netscape users cannot view the video file directly from the web with a simple mouse click on the URL. This is only possible with Internet Explorer and Windows. So be sure to read the "tips" page carefully.
Southbound Babies: Link to Lesson
Wayne Perryman, the government?s main specialist on gray whale birth rates, told us from his office near San Diego, CA: "We have been doing some flying to collect aerial photographs of gray whales. They look nice and robust. We have seen several southbound calves and I am predicting a good year for gray whale reproduction." We?ll be hearing more from Wayne as he runs the official cow/calf census on the journey north past Point Piedras Blancas, CA (35.40N, 121.17W).
As of 3 February, 35 cow/calf pairs had been spotted passing the Point Vincente Lighthouse where volunteer census takers like our friends Mike & Winston keep watch. Each year, a few gray whale calves are born before their mothers reach the warm, safe lagoons of Baja California Mexico where most of the births take place. How does being born in the open ocean during their mother's migration affect the calves? So far, scientists can only wonder. After all, it's tough to study what you can't see and keep track of. Read what two scientists think about southbound babies:
Try This! Journaling Question
What do you think are the best conditions for a baby whale's birth and survival in
its first months of life? Make a list based on your own ideas and the scientists'
comments in "Southbound Babies."
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Sirena |
A student from Amada Nervo School in Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico writes:
"Hi. I'm Sirena Bondy. I'm from Guerrero Negro BCS. The gray whales migrate here to have their calves and rest from the journey of 8000 km. Their time here is from December to April. Did you know that when a gray whale is born it weighs around 800 kg, and when they are big they weigh from 20 to 40 tons?"
For baby whales in the warm lagoons around Guerrero Negro, the race to build blubber has begun. As a baby, YOU did all your growing on a diet of milk. So do baby whales -- but they may gain more than 60 pounds a day! (How long did it take YOU to gain 60 pounds?) You'll be able to answer our next challenge question when you look for clues in "Holy Cow! What a Calf." Find it here:
Challenge Question #2:
"About how much will a calf weigh by the time it is two months old and begins the long migration north? Why is a calf's weight gain important?"
(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions
below.)
HINT: Why do you need to remember to figure in
the calf?s birthweight?
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Mike (top) and Winston (bottom) |
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Looking for Whale Spouts |
Each migration season, the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Cetacean Society (ACS) counts gray whales. The count is called the Gray Whale Census and the project is held on the grounds of the Point Vincente Lighthouse (33.44N,-118.24W), courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard 11th District and residents of the Point Vincente Lighthouse facility. The Census starts December 1 and goes through May 15. During daylight hours seven days a week, teams of trained volunteers from the ACS, the Cabrillo Whale Watch Program, and the general public show up with binoculars to help count gray whales seen migrating along the shore. Such counts can help scientists see how gray whales are doing after being removed from the Endangered Species List in 1994.
Meet Mike and Winston, our favorite ACS volunteers. They help count the migrating grays every year, and they?ll be sending us news until our last report in May when the mothers and babies are still swimming north. (Read the captions under the photos and you'll find out what a picklehead is!) Mike reports these migration highlights so far:
- December was a slow month. The first gray whales going south, a pod of four followed by a single, weren?t spotted until December 10. Q: Why might the migration be off to a later start?
- The first northbound gray whales (5) were spotted on December 29.
- The first southbound cow/calf (mother/baby) pair was sighted December 30. The baby was probably only a few hours old since its skin had folds and its flukes were floppy. Q: Sounds like a tongue-twister?but seriously, how would you describe a baby whale? Look at the photos and facts in today?s reports and lesson links for help.
- January sightings have been far higher than the past several years and we are seeing large pods, some with as many as 11 gray whales. Q: Why might January counts be higher this year?
- Our Feb. 3 southbound count of cow/calf pairs is the same number as last season?s TOTAL southbound cow/calf count---and the whales are still coming. Q: What does this make you wonder?
Daily Whale Numbers on the Web: Watch for Turnaround Date!
You can keep tabs on the daily gray whale census counts (great for graphing!) by visiting the ACS Web site, where the numbers are posted each day:
American Cetacean Society--Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project
How many northbound whales were seen today? How many southbound? The date when northbound counts exceed southbound counts is called the turnaround date. What?s your prediction for this year?s turnaround date? You?ll see it coming if you check the ACS Web site each day.
What?s This? Looking Ahead
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What is this? Find out next week! |
How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:
IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.
1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-gwhale@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question
#1 (or #2).
3. In the body of EACH message, give your answer to ONE of the questions above.
The Next Gray Whale Migration Update Will Be Posted on February
19, 2003.
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