Popular species faces risks from collisions with big ships, as researchers look for clues
Once a rarity, gray whales, like the one shown here in 2023, have been increasingly veering from their normal migration routes in the Pacific Ocean and swimming under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay. taken under NOAA permit # 26532.Gray whales have been veering off their normal routes along the West Coast and swimming under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay in unprecedented numbers.
“We think it has a lot to do with the fact that the whales haven’t been getting enough food,” said Bill Keener, a biologist with The Marine Mammal Center, a non-profit group in Sausalito. “They may be weak and resting for a while, or they looking for an alternative food source.”From 2019 to 2023, 22 gray whales were found dead in or near San Francisco Bay, according to data from The Marine Mammal Center, the California Academy of Sciences and public agencies.
In 2007, a mother humpback and her calf, nicknamed “Delta and Dawn,” swam into the bay and ventured as far up the Delta as Rio Vista before scientists in boats coaxed them back into the open ocean 10 days later. After whaling was banned in the U.S., numbers of gray whales increased. By 1994, after they reached a healthy population, the Clinton administration removed them from the Endangered Species Act list in what is still considered one of the nation’s major wildlife success stories.
Last year, gray whale numbers began to rebound to as many as 21,000. NOAA declared an end to the “unusual mortality event” in November. Scientists are watching carefully to see if the change is temporary or permanent. One thing is clear: The gray whales coming into San Francisco Bay are heading north as part of their annual migration from Baja, Mexico where they mate and breed, and turning right under the Golden Gate Bridge instead of continuing north to Alaska where they stock up on food during the summer months.
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