News Flash! 2004 A RECORD YEAR FOR BABY GRAY WHALES MIGRATION SUMMARY Gray Whale Migration Route (Click on face of map) 2004 is A Record Year for Baby Gray Whales! Wayne Perryman is a biologist at NOAA's Southwest Science Center and the government's main specialist on gray whale calf birth rates. One of his duties with the Gray Whale Calf Study is to count the mother/calf pairs when they start the journey north. Mr. Perryman and a few partners watch for cow/calf pairs 12 hours a day, 6 days a week from mid-March until early June. In spring 2004 the official NMFS census reported 455 cow/calf pairs--the second-highest cow/calf count since the study began 11 years ago--but counted only 5 days a week instead of the usual 6 as in previous years.   Summary of the ACS/LA Gray Whale Census The ACS/LA Gray whale census ended May 16th, 2004, with the following totals for southbound (autumn) and northbound (spring) gray whales: Season to Date (since 1 Dec 2003) Southbound -------------------- 672 Northbound -------------------- 948 Total ------------------------ 1620 Calves South ------------------- 60 Calves North ------------------ 178   From ACS viewing platform WOW! The 672 southbound gray whales included 60 calves (8.9%: a new record high percentage). The 948 northbound gray whales included 178 calves (18.8%: also a new record high percentage).    Try This! Migration Math Compared to 2004, the total counts in 2003 were __________, but calf percentages were _______. (Use the previous year's ACS/LA census numbers (2002-2003) below to make your comparison and fill in the blanks.) 761 southbound gray whales (including 37 calves; 4.9% of total southbound migrants) 1057 northbound gray whales (including 90 calves; 8.5% of total northbound migrants) The record high southbound calf percentage was 8.9 percent. You saw that 60 calves were part of the total number of southbound whales. How was the percentage figured? (You will need to look above at the total southbound gray whale numbers.) After you answer that, figure out the total number of southbound calves in the year of the previous high: 1997/98, with a calf percentage of 8.6%. Until 2004, the previous high northbound calf percentage was 13.8%, which occurred in 1996/97. How much was the increase from the 1997 high to the new high in 2004? How accurate do you think these numbers are for a picture of the total number of migrating gray whales? Explain. (Remember: this census is from a single point along the migration trail. It is hard to count whales through binoculars at night and in poor vsibility weather.) Copyright 1997-2004 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form