Field Notes 2013 May 14: "Folks are still seeing whales at Narrow Cape; I imagine those a mix of our "resident" whales and migrators. I'm still trying to fly a survey, which I'm aiming to do this week sometime. Without flying, I cannot say for sure. "By the time the animals reach Kodiak, the whales are approximately 2/3 to 3/4 of the way to their ultimate destinations." —Bree Witteveen of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center April 29: Folks from Pasagshak Point this morning are reporting lots of gray whale activity in the area – with over 40 spotted. In addition, over 100 gray whales were seen off of Narrow Cape on Sunday's whale watching hike. The whales were both near shore and off in the distance, with some coming close to shore to feed. Although whales can be seen at any time of day, observers say mornings before the wind picks up is often the easiest time to see the whales. —Pam Foreman April 27: "We've had reports of a couple of dozen gray whales seen from Surfer's Beach and the Narrow Cape area today. Tomorrow's whale watching walk should be a productive one! To join the hike tomorrow, meet at 9:30AM at the ferry terminal building so you can carpool from there. Bring a lunch, appropriate outdoor attire, water and your binocs! Happy whale watching!" —Pam Foreman April 24: THEY'RE BACK! "Close to 15 gray whales were spotted near Chiniak on Wednesday, April 24, and 3 grays were spotted feeding on the NW end of Woody Island in the channel! They were heading north, no doubt to head to Williams Reef and around the north end of Long Island. Welcome back to our migrating gray friends!! —Cheryl Nugent "About 76 gray whales were spotted off Ugak Island at Narrow Cape this evening. I'd say we are officially in the gray whale season!" —Pam Foreman P.S. Bree Witteveen, our marine mammal researcher here, confirmed my suspicion that some of them were very likely resident whales. No way to tell how many. April 2: No grays spotted yet, but orcas (killer whales) are present. These can be seen in waters around Kodiak all year, But eastern Pacific Gray Whales only show up twice a year. March 18, 2013: Orcas (killer whales) are near Kodiak, but no gray whales have been reported yet.
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