Latest Gray Whale Stories

DAVIS, Calif., June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sailor Max J. Young made front-page newspaper headlines and internationally televised news coverage one year ago following his dramatic rescue at sea. As the hours agonizingly ticked away, Young was preparing to drown until a freighter rescued him minutes before his sailboat, Reflections, sank thousands of feet to the bottom of the ocean. Young had been sailing alone the night of June 12, 2012, on a northerly course through choppy swells...

Tracking of highly endangered species reveals highest population since tracking began in 1980 SAINT JOHN, NB, June 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Irving Oil is celebrating the 10(th) anniversary of the re-routing of the shipping lanes in the Bay of Fundy. This precedent-setting initiative, along with other conservation measures, is credited with helping the subsequent growth occurring within the right whale population. Over the past decade, the North Atlantic right whale population has...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Scientists from the Namibian Dolphin Project working off the coast of Namibia in southwest Africa have spotted a North Pacific gray whale there, marking the first time the giant mammal has ever been observed south of the equator. In 2010, a North Pacific gray whale was confirmed to have wandered into the Mediterranean Sea, but scientists speculated it had arrived via the increasingly ice-free Northwest Passage. The significance...

Southwest Fisheries Science Center: NOAA Researchers have identified areas off southern California with high numbers of whales and assessed their risk from potentially deadly collisions with commercial ship traffic in a study released today in the scientific journal Conservation Biology. Scientists from NOAA Fisheries, the Marine Mammal Commission and Cascadia Research Collective analyzed data collected over seven years by NOAA on marine mammal and ecosystem research surveys in the...

San Diego Infographic Whale Watching and Migration by Marriott (PRWEB) March 11, 2013 The warm waters of the Pacific Ocean along southern California’s coastline are a popular shared destination as vacationers from around the world make their way to enjoy fun in the sun and gray whales from the Arctic Sea migrate there annually to give birth to their young. Beautifully described and illustrated in an exciting new infographic on the tumblr blog by Marriott International, gray whales...

"Whale Watching Spoken Here" marks the start of land-based gray whale watching on the Washington coast, which begins in late March and continues through June. Platforms near steep cliff faces and wide open beaches provide multiple vantage points for avid and casual whale watchers on Washington's Long Beach Peninsula. ILWACO, Wash. (PRWEB) February 21, 2013 The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, at Cape Disappointment State Park in Ilwaco, will participate in a week’s...

Estimates of whale population size based on genetics versus historical records diverge greatly, making it difficult to fully understand the ecological implications of the large-scale commercial whaling of the 19th and early 20th centuries, but a comparison of DNA samples from modern and prehistoric gray whales supports the idea that the population was substantially larger pre-whaling and saw a sharp, recent decrease that is consistent with whaling as the cause. The full results are reported...

A California marine biologist and whale-watching tour operator has been charged with violating a federal law that prohibits disturbing killer whales in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The Associated Press reports that on Wednesday, charges were brought against Nancy Black saying that she had violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which, among other things, makes it illegal to feed marine mammals such as dolphins, sea lions and whales. Ms. Black, who owns and operates...

Whale watchers are saying that migrating gray whales are swimming through Southern California waters in record numbers this winter. The Los Angeles Times said on Wednesday that whale watchers at Point Vicente in Rancho Palos Verdes have recorded a record 163 sightings in December so far, which is the most that have been logged at this location in 28 years. At this time last year, observers logged 26 gray whales.  The previous record saw 133 of the mammals in 1996. "I've seen some...

Delegates meeting at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) conference in the Channel Islands warn that oil and gas exploration in the Russian Far East continues to threaten the livelihood of the critically endangered gray whale that spends its summer feeding along Sakhalin Island, according to a recent BBC News report. IWC scientists say that companies using seismic guns to find oil and gas in the area are taking steps to reduce impact, but they said those companies need to do more to...