To: Journey North
From: Laura Gorodezky, Education Coordinator
Channel
Islands National Marine Sanctuary
Dear Journey North Students,
Greetings! A HAPPY TAIL OF A WHALE!!!
Last Friday, April 5th a young California gray whale entangled in netting material was rescued by volunteers from the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Center. A pleasure boat spotted the whale Friday morning near the Miramar Hotel in Santa Barbara. The whale was first observed off Long Beach on Monday (about 90 miles south of here) and again off Pt. Mugu on Wednesday (about 40 miles to the south).
The tail flukes of the whale were entangled in a monofilament gill net, a synthetic line, an anchor and several buoys. The whale watching boat, Condor was notified that the animal was in the area and stayed with the whale until rescuers arrived. When Marine Mammal Center volunteers arrived, they attached a line with rubber buoys to the whale which prevented the whale from submerging too far, and allowed a safe place for rescuers to hang on. A drag chute was also added to slow the whale so the line could be cut off.
I was lucky enough to observe this amazing rescue effort because the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary rigid hull inflatable was called on scene to help transport divers and equipment to the rescue scene. It was a struggle for the divers to cut the net from the whale because it kept flipping its tail flukes and trying to lift its head out of the water.
When it was finally freed from the net, the whale made one last pass by the Condor and lifted its tail flukes as if waving goodybye. All 60 passengers plus Marine Mammal Center volunteers cheered as the whale continued its journey, unencumbered by human debris.
As if the moment was not magical enough, a large pod of common dolphins came swimming by and lept out of the water as if they were thanking the volunteers for the rescue of their aquatic cousin.
What a day!
I recently received this note from a Journey North teacher who saw whales off the California coast and wondered what kind they were:
"I'm a middle school teacher in Mendocino County , California. I was at the coast the weekend of March 24 at the Sinkyone Wilderness, on the border of Mendocino and Humboldt counties and saw an amazing amount of whales go by. In three hours on Monday I would estimate that I saw about 200 whales! A major highlight in my experience! Thought you may want to know... Question, were these Grey whales, or how could I have known what species? Thanks, I enjoy your posts."
In response, those were most probably gray whales migrating on their way north to their feeding grounds in Alaskan seas. More than 20,000 gray whales will make the 10-12,000 mile round-trip migration from Alaska to Baja and back each year. The gray whale type typically follows the coast during its migration. Gray whales can be identified by their bushy heart shaped blow (10-15 ft high). They do not have a dorsal fin like some of the other whales we see here on the west coast (blue and humpback). Rather they have a low hump with 6 - 12 knuckles between the hump and the flukes. They have mottled gray coloring with a narrow bowed head.
And finally, over the weekend of March 30th we had an exciting weekend of whale watching from the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Research Vessel Ballena. ("Ballena" means whale in Spanish).
We took students in the "34 Degrees North Club" on board to do some marine mammal transects. (The club is named after the Latitude of the sanctuary.) The students helped find the animals with binoculars and learned how to fill out marine mammal sightings forms.
Boy did we have a lucky day! We saw 2 gray whales, a young elephant seal, lots of California sea lions, 8 Dall's porpoise, several hundred common dolphins and 3 humpback whales! The humpback whales were a surprise because we usually don't see them this early in the year.
What a great day for everyone.
Laura Gorodezky
Education Coordinator
Channel Islands
National Marine Sanctuary
Santa Barbara, California
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