Gray Whale Migration Update: April 2, 2003
Today's Report Includes:
- Field Report from Laguna Ojo de Liebre
- Northbound News: Migration Highlights Along the Coast
- Try This! Comparing Data
- Albino Baby Update
- Spring Training: Challenge Question #10
- Mystery Photo Identified: Link to Lesson
- How Far Offshore? Challenge Question #11
- Albino Baby: Discussion of Challenge Question #9
- What?s This? Looking Ahead
 |
|
Baby Gray, March 3, 2003. |
How many whales are still at the birthing/wintering grounds on Mexico?s Baja coastline? It?s impossible to know for sure, but whale guide Keith Jones tells us: "On February 19th I talked with the biologists and the other whale census takers after they came back in from a day of counting whales. In Laguna Ojo de Liebre they counted 1095 whales total--including mothers, babies and solo whales. This was down from 1200 two weeks earlier. Since it is raw data and the weather had turned more turbulent, it is likely the lower count was due to the census takers not seeing whales that were actually there." (This count hadn?t been adjusted for possible missed sightings due to poor weather.) The whale count on the same day for San Ignacio Lagoon was 245 total mothers, babies and solo whales (different team of census takers). By now, some of those whales are on the journey north.
In a very special event for some children of nearby town of Guerrero Negro, Keith took a boatload of them them out on the lagoon for whale watching in February. Whales 4 Kids (Keith?s personal charity) funded this event. "We had to plan a couple weeks ahead to get permission for the children to be out of school, so we ended up going out on a day that was a bit wet and wild," said Keith. "Still, the "chumacos" (kids) had a wonderful time and saw many gray whales up very close." Most locals never have the opportunity to see the whales on the water.
Announcement: Here?s YOUR Chance!
Keith says, "Next year we want to provide the funding for a group of between 9 and 14 high school seniors/juniors and their chaperones to experience the Baja Jones Adventure to the gray whales." Is your school interested? If so, contact Keith Jones: keith@greywhale.com
|
|
|
Gray Whale Migration Route |
Alaska. The first whales just arrived! Leslie Hines of Kenai Fjords Tours in Seward says, "We saw our first Gray Whale April 1! It was spotted by Captain Tim
Fleming on the Kenai Fjords Tours vessel M/V Kenai Explorer. We saw only one
but we are super excited. The Gray Whale was headed south through Cheval
Narrows. (Last year?s first confirmed Seward gray whale sighting was March 23 at Cape Resurrection.) Kate Wynne?s last aerial survey in waters around Kodiak Island was 18 March, when she reported no apparent migrants yet. Also in Kodiak, Susan Payne said the killer whales have started their visits to the harbor. (More on that next time.) And citizens are gearing up for their annual migration celebration, Whale Fest Kodiak April 11-19!
Westport, Washington. Capt. Geoff Grillo says all their whale watching trips saw whales. "One boat reported whale watching in the bay, so maybe our summer residents have returned."
Waldport, Oregon. Thousands of volunteers and visitors helped Whale Watching Spoken Here to count whales on or near the Oregon Coast during their Spring Watch Week from March 22-March 29. They hoped for a parade of whales during what?s normally a peak week. Whale Watching Spoken Here is an onshore whale watching program. Volunteer Coordinator Mike Rivers told Journey North that 1046 gray whale sightings were counted by 17,520 visitors at more than 20 locations along the coast. (No babies reported at this point, but some may show up as notes are analyzed.) Unfortunately, Mike reports "two low-number watch weeks in a row. We had the poorest visibility due to storms on many days, followed by days where the whales were far offshore in many places." Despite the weather, the volunteers were great and showed up anyway! (Later in this report, be sure to see the challenges we have for you to read the table of findings.)
 |
| The Sunset Kid (vessel) on her way back to look at the whale that we spotted on route to her. Photo Tom Kotzebue |
 |
| Pelicans. Photo Tom Kotzebue |
ACS/Los Angeles Census reports northbound sightings continuing strong. Two more babies have been seen here since our last report, for a total of 4 northbound mom/calf pairs swimming past this census point. The peak count of northbound whales without calves going past the ACS/LA census near Los Angeles has varied from the last week in February to the third week in March; the cow/calf migration usually peaks about 6 weeks later. Has the peak of northbound whales without calves been reached yet? Keep watching the numbers. We gave you some last week, and here are the daily northbound numbers from March 20-March 31: 23, 21, 23, 10, 28, 32, 20,17, 12, 30, 5, 26.
San Diego/Pt. Piedras Blancas has Wayne Perryman?s annual Cow/Calf Census underway. "It looks like an early migration year to me," said Wayne. "We?re seeing more juveniles, some tagging along behind an adult and hard to tell from calves, and the animals are moving closer to shore. We saw one cow/calf pair last week so the parade will begin soon. In fact, there were two cow/calf pairs on Saturday, and at least one Monday, March 31." (Wayne promised us he?d watch for the albino baby, too!)
Try This! Comparing Data
Put on your scientist hat and sharpen your pencil! See the data from previous migration watch weeks, both winter and spring, conducted by Whale Watching Spoken Here:
Look at the left column, a ranking of the number of whales seen during the annual whale watch weeks. Answer these questions to help you interpret the data:
- What does the table show? Make a clear statement.
- Where did the watch week of Spring 2003 (S2003 in the table) rank in the 33 watch weeks of data?
- How many more whales were seen in the top-ranked watch week than in the bottom-ranked watch week?
- Storms, wind and fog can affect the migrations each way and the ability to count whales, but scientists (including YOU!) can usually see trends. What trends do you see WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE YEARS IN ORDER?
- Using this data, what questions can YOU think of to challenge your classmates?
Albino Baby Update
Remember the albino baby we told you about in the last report? "This is the first recorded instance of an albino gray whale inside Laguna Ojo de Liebre in 12 years," says Keith Jones. The albino baby and his gray mother were first sighted in Guerrero Negro Lagoon on or about February 14th. This is a smaller, very shallow enclosed body of water that has a sand clogged entrance, normally only accessible to whale entry at high tides. The whales usually come in to Guerrero Negro Lagoon, wander around for an hour or two, and then go back out to look for the entrance to Laguna Ojo de Liebre, which is a couple miles south. That is precisely what this pair did. The pair was then spotted again the next day, inside the entrance to Laguna Ojo de Liebre. "Then two days later," says Keith, "I observed them all the way at the rear of the Lagoon. I saw them once more the very next day out near the entrance."
"All observers have tried to get a look at the baby?s eyes to see if they are pink," said Keith. "But alas, the mother is extremely cautious and moves away as soon as any boat approaches. Nobody has confirmed the pink eyes yet."
"The baby is significant to researchers because he (or she?) is so easy to spot and identify," continues Keith. "This is the first time they have been able to observe such an easily identifiable subject from far away. Already the travel back and forth and around the lagoon is more varied than what we had thought to be the norm. We generally find that the whales seem to hang out in certain areas for fairly long periods of time, at least several days to a week or more."
We?re sorry that Keith couldn?t find his one distant shot of this elusive baby and his gray mother. But getting photos isn?t easy when you consider the size of these lagoons. Whale watcher Catherine Watson described the challenge this way: "The lagoon holds so much seawater that its 1,100 whales were more diluted than vegetables in cheap soup. They could disappear whenever they wanted. We were lucky that they hung around."
Spring Training
|
|
|
Photo Keith Jones |
The gray whale mothers and babies, who stay in the lagoons several weeks longer than the other whales, have been busy with spring training. Mothers swim with the babies against the tidal currents, to build up their muscles and endurance. Naturalist Tom Lewis shares his observations in Laguna San Ignacio. Read why mothers and calves swim in a predictable pattern against a tidal current that can be very strong:
Then come back and answer this:
Challenge Question #10:
"If 1 knot is 1 nautical mile per hour and a nautical mile is 1.15 statute miles, how fast is the tidal current in San Ignacio?"
(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)
|
|
|
Click on photo to enlarge. Then answer Challenge
Question #11! |
Did last week?s mystery photo stump you? It?s a view through Mike?s binoculars, and this week we let you in on the lingo of whale watchers. For example, if a whale-watcher calls 'BLOW, 300 degrees at 45 mil,' what does that mean? Mike and Winston give you a fun lesson on whale watcher's lingo at the link below -- including a challenge to use what you learn. Check it out:
Then come back and answer the question below. Tips: Find the spout in the photo, read the compass degrees, and count the mils. Then use the chart in the lesson above to find the distance.
Challenge Question #11:
"Pretend you're the whale watcher and fill in these blanks for the whale spout you see in the binoculars view (see photo on Web): BLOW! ____ degrees at ___ mil. The whale is ___ miles (____ kilometers) offshore."
(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)
Albino Baby: Discussion of Challenge Question #9
Last week?s challenge was: "List some of the special problems this albino gray whale might face in its life. Think about its vision, its interactions with other whales, and its visibility to predators. Do you think it would be easier or harder for a gray whale to be "different" from its family and neighbors than for a human to be "different"?
Thanks to all of you who sent your good thinking and research. We?ll share some of your comments, followed by the comments of Dr. Dave Rugh, our gray whale expert. Read carefully to learn a lot?-and maybe raise more questions!
"Albino gray whales have it hard in life, wrote Royce at Challenger Middle School. "Their eyes cannot cope with the sunlight and are very sensitive to light. This is because of the lack of color or pigments in their irises and retinas. Also their white skin is easy for many predators to see even from far away. The whales may also have difficulties interacting with the other whales because they are different from the others. I think that it is harder for whales to be an albino because in nature, there are no racism laws and they could get eaten. It is also hard for humans because people treat you differently and not the way you would like to be treated...like everyone else."
The albino grey whale has many difficulties to face in its life," wrote Chris, Scott, Brian, Vanessa, Melissa, Matt, Gary, and Tasneem from Iselin (NJ) Middle School. "More predators can kill it because it would be easier to see in the dark water. Its skin color lets it be easily burned from the sun. It is not accepted by its herd. Because it has no pigment in its eyes, it can go blind. It doesn't live as long as whales with pigment."
Students from Hamilton Avenue School 5th grade in Greenwich, CT also did some good thinking and research. Alex commented on possible health problems and felt it would be hard for a gray whale to be "different" from its family and neighbors. Leo shares what he learned about physical disadvantages, pointing out that "White is an easy color to see anywhere in the wild because it is rarely a color of natural scenery. White is a color that is easily seen underwater, and predators can spot them and hunt them down easier. Another disadvantage is their poor eyesight. If a predator is chasing after an albino, it cannot see farther than six feet away through the murky ocean, but the predator can. Yet another disadvantage is that they have many problems with their blood, like high or low blood pressure, causing bleeding for no reason at all. Another disadvantage is that albino animals' immune systems don't work as well as other animal's, causing them to get sick easily, and they go slower when they are being chased by a predator. The last disadvantage is that albino animals may not react to their surroundings as quickly as any other animal would."
Dr. Dave Rugh puts it this way: "In general, albinism can be disadvantageous in that it can attract predators (or make it harder to hide from them), reduce heat absorption (dark colors absorb more visual energy than do light colors), and remove indications of status within a group (color patterns can show age, clan identity, or dominance).
"So far, albinism has been seen in 20 different species of cetaceans. We do not know how much of a disadvantage albinism is for gray whales. A white calf may be more visible to killer whales when approached from the side, but from below the white may be a good camouflage against the bright surface of the sea. For instance, many fish, sea birds, and marine mammals are pale or white on their undersides, apparently because it makes them less visible from below. However, in evolutionary terms, if there were a real advantage to being totally white, gray whales would be white instead of gray (like beluga whales). We must assume then that albinism is disadvantageous to gray whales, even though occasionally an albino gray whale may live to adulthood."
What?s This? Looking Ahead
 |
|
Photo Mike & Winston |
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
#10 (OR #11).
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 April 16.
Copyright 2003 Journey North. All Rights Reserved.
Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form
