Thousands of gray whales begin annual southern migration

Thousands of gray whales begin annual southern migration

Thousands of gray whales begin annual southern migration


Thousands of gray whales begin annual southern migration to Mexico from the Arctic.

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Thousands of gray whales begin annual southern migration to Mexico from their feeding grounds in the Arctic, where near-record low ice coverage last spring allowed pregnant females to get early access to food.

In the coming weeks, more than 20,000 gray whales will begin their annual two-month, 5,000-mile journey south ??? from the Arctic Circle, past San Diego, to warm lagoons off Baja California.

The pod has been feeding over the past four months in the Chukchi Sea and northern Bering Sea.

Gray whales travel 10,000 to 14,000 miles round trip every year — from feeding grounds near the Arctic to breeding lagoons in Baja California.
Credit: Washington State Dept. of Ecology
Above: Gray whales travel10,000 to 14,000 miles roundtrip every year — from feeding grounds near the Arctic to breeding lagoons in Baja California.
Near-record low ice coverage when they returned to the North Pacific last spring allowed pregnant females to get early access to vital feeding areas, increasing their chance for a full-term pregnancy, said Wayne Perryman, fisheries biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla.

Pregnant females fast during the four-month round-trip migration, so it???s important for them to fatten up quickly upon their return in May, Perryman said.

Now that the whales have gained enough blubber, expectant females will lead the pod south to their birthing waters, he said.
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/oct/13/fattened-gray-whales-low-ice-arctic-set-journey-so/

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