Gray whales have the longest migration route known amongst mammals, traveling up to 12,000 miles (19,321 km) between Mexico and Alaska waters every year. Their population along the Pacific Coast is estimated to be about 27,000 animals.
With their journey from their feeding grounds in the Antarctic Sea down to the winter calving lagoons in Mexico, the West Coast of North America anticipates their arrival both with hope and fear. Last spring and early summer dead gray whales had been dotting the coastline in alarming numbers. The death toll in the US alone totalled 121, with an additional 10 reported in Canada and 81 in Mexico.
Gray whale expert Alisa Schulman-Janiger who conducted the ACS/LA Grey Whale Census and Behavior Project on the Palos Verde Peninsula last season said “she knew from the start that something was amiss, as she watched skinny whales pass by “. According to the NOAA, necropsies had shown evidence of emancipation, though the “findings were not consistent across all of the whales”. Thus, further investigation in feeding and migration patterns was put in place.
The first gray whales have been spotted in recent weeks off South Bay, Long Beach and just last week in Orange County, mostly reported to be skinny by the observers. Because the number of stranding events has been increasing since multiple years now, stranding networks, experts and volunteers are preparing for the coming season. Yet they are anticipating the arrival of the gray whales enthusiastically, “hopeful for a healthier season, one that would indicate the whales found enough food to forage in Alaska as they make their trek to the warm waters of Baja, Mexico.”
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