One of the more remarkable migrations among marine animals occurs each year right outside the Golden Gate.
In late fall, the California gray whales passes south along our shoreline to the warm waters of the Sea of Cortez and the lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. Leaving the rich feeding grounds of the Bering and Chukchi seas off Alaska, these baleen whales travel along the coastal margins traveling a distance of approximately 6000 miles to breed and give birth. This round trip of 10,000 to 14,000 miles is considered among the longest annual migration of any mammal.
Frequently these whales can be seen from our shoreline with great viewing site off the
Point Reyes National Seashore or off Point Montara to the south. The whale is considered a conservation success story because protections instituted in the early 1930's have allowed populations to rebound from possibly less than 1000 individuals.
Leading my last wildlife trip of the year with SF Bay Whale watching last weekend, we spotted a resident gray whale at the southeast Farallon Island, likely an individual among the two hundred or so considered to be resident. These whales are generally juveniles who do not participate in the migration but feed along the shores of California. As opportunistic feeders, the whales scrape along the bottom filtering out crustaceans with their baleen, or scoops krill from the water or even in kelp beds.
As an undergraduate I studied these whales in Laguna Ojo de Liebre (also known as
Scammon’s Lagoon after the infamous whaler of the name) and
Guerrero Negro in the Baja Peninsula. Camping along the margins of an estuary, we counted and identified whales, monitored movements and even dived the lagoon to observe behavior and collect bottom samples. At that time it was believed that the whales did not feed during their visit to Baja, or along the way, but relied instead on the fat stored from the rich feeding grounds to the north.
Our observations of feeding whales, the verification of food in the lagoons, and other observations of feeding along the coast helped disprove that theory.
Gray whales are opportunists, and this opportunism of feeding, migrations and non-migration may have helped the survival of the species. Back in the day before tighter restrictions were in place in Mexico, we commonly paddled our longboards across the lagoon to the sand dunes separating the calm waters from the sea. Juvenile whales would bump our boards and adults 40 feet long passed a hand's breadth beneath us — with a grapefruit-sized eye staring back at us. Friendly whales frequently rubbed their parasites alongside our inflatable dinghy, as whales spy-hopped, breached and spouted all around us as we collected our data.
I recall surfing the lagoon mouth as whales passed through the narrow channel nearby, and slid on breaking waves from the shallow sand into the deeper channel, gliding over the whales' backs. Large tuna and sharks also shared the waters and it was not unusual to see a beached baby whale with the large serrated gnaw marks of white sharks.
Diving in the lagoon to collect bottom samples, whales would appear and disappear like grey ghosts or slide along creating a muck cloud. In addition to feeding on planktonic shrimp, gray whales bottom feed, skidding along the soft sediment, collecting mouthfuls of muck and loads of crabs, shrimps, isopods and other crustaceans and invertebrates.
Like people, these whales are right or left sided, and older whales actually become blind in one eye from the continued contact with sediments.
At the time around the American Civil War, the gray whale population was dramatically reduced by hunting in the lagoons. Especially vulnerable because of their coastal navigation, and exposure in what became called the “whaling lagoons,” the eastern Pacific gray whale population dwindled. Over 150 years ago, whalers like Charles Scammon slaughtered whales with abandon like fish in a barrel until the lagoons were described as vacant. Today, whale watch tours take tourists onto the Mexican lagoons to watch hundreds of these gentle whales. The old pier on Guererro Negro Lagoon still serves as a prime viewing ground.
One of the more remarkable migrations among marine animals occurs each year right outside the Golden Gate.
In late fall, the California gray whales passes south along our shoreline to the warm waters of the Sea of Cortez and the lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. Leaving the rich feeding grounds of the Bering and Chukchi seas off Alaska, these baleen whales travel along the coastal margins traveling a distance of approximately 6000 miles to breed and give birth. This round trip of 10,000 to 14,000 miles is considered among the longest annual migration of any mammal. Frequently these whales can be seen from our shoreline with great viewing site off the Point Reyes National Seashore or off Point Montara to the south. The whale is considered a conservation success story because protections instituted in the early 1930's have allowed populations to rebound from possibly less than 1000 individuals.
Leading my last wildlife trip of the year with SF Bay Whale watching last weekend, we spotted a resident gray whale at the southeast Farallon Island, likely an individual among the two hundred or so considered to be resident. These whales are generally juveniles who do not participate in the migration but feed along the shores of California. As opportunistic feeders, the whales scrape along the bottom filtering out crustaceans with their baleen, or scoops krill from the water or even in kelp beds.
As an undergraduate I studied these whales in Laguna Ojo de Liebre (also known as Scammon’s Lagoon after the infamous whaler of the name) and Guerrero Negro in the Baja Peninsula. Camping along the margins of an estuary, we counted and identified whales, monitored movements and even dived the lagoon to observe behavior and collect bottom samples. At that time it was believed that the whales did not feed during their visit to Baja, or along the way, but relied instead on the fat stored from the rich feeding grounds to the north.
Our observations of feeding whales, the verification of food in the lagoons, and other observations of feeding along the coast helped disprove that theory. Gray whales are opportunists, and this opportunism of feeding, migrations and non-migration may have helped the survival of the species. Back in the day before tighter restrictions were in place in Mexico, we commonly paddled our longboards across the lagoon to the sand dunes separating the calm waters from the sea. Juvenile whales would bump our boards and adults 40 feet long passed a hand's breadth beneath us — with a grapefruit-sized eye staring back at us. Friendly whales frequently rubbed their parasites alongside our inflatable dinghy, as whales spy-hopped, breached and spouted all around us as we collected our data.
I recall surfing the lagoon mouth as whales passed through the narrow channel nearby, and slid on breaking waves from the shallow sand into the deeper channel, gliding over the whales' backs. Large tuna and sharks also shared the waters and it was not unusual to see a beached baby whale with the large serrated gnaw marks of white sharks.
Diving in the lagoon to collect bottom samples, whales would appear and disappear like grey ghosts or slide along creating a muck cloud. In addition to feeding on planktonic shrimp, gray whales bottom feed, skidding along the soft sediment, collecting mouthfuls of muck and loads of crabs, shrimps, isopods and other crustaceans and invertebrates.
Like people, these whales are right or left sided, and older whales actually become blind in one eye from the continued contact with sediments.
At the time around the American Civil War, the gray whale population was dramatically reduced by hunting in the lagoons. Especially vulnerable because of their coastal navigation, and exposure in what became called the “whaling lagoons,” the eastern Pacific gray whale population dwindled. Over 150 years ago, whalers like Charles Scammon slaughtered whales with abandon like fish in a barrel until the lagoons were described as vacant. Today, whale watch tours take tourists onto the Mexican lagoons to watch hundreds of these gentle whales. The old pier on Guererro Negro Lagoon still serves as a prime viewing ground.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Cabo Amazing
Post on Nov 17, 2011 by 
