scholarly journals Migratory Behavior of an Eastern North Pacific Gray Whale From Baja California Sur to Chirikov Basin, Alaska

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Urbán R ◽  
Esther Jiménez-López ◽  
Héctor M. Guzmán ◽  
Lorena Viloria-Gómora
Keyword(s):  
Baja California ◽  
Satellite Telemetry ◽  
Migration Route ◽  
Gray Whale ◽  
San Jose ◽  
Gray Whales ◽  
High Speeds ◽  
Kodiak Island ◽  
The Bering Sea ◽  
Winter Breeding

Eastern gray whales undertake annual migrations between summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and winter breeding and calving lagoons in the west coast of Baja California, Mexico. On February 12, 2017, three adult gray whales were sighted at San José del Cabo, Mexico, in which one individual, named “María,” was tagged using a satellite telemetry transmitter (PTT). The PTT stopped the signal on July 11, 2017. María traveled 11,387 km during 149 days from San José del Cabo to the Chirikov Basin. The migration route was aligned close to the coastline (<23 km) from February to April. After passing Kodiak Island in May, María started traveling far away from the coastline (>70 km) into the Bering Sea, including the Chirikov Basin. During March, April, and May, María traveled long distances at relatively high speeds, in contrast to the lower speed during February, early March, and the arrival time to the feeding areas in May, June, and July. The total distance traveled by María during its migration from Ojo de Liebre Lagoon to the Chirikov Basin was 8,863 km during 61.5 days with an average speed of 5.5 km h–1; this excludes the 14 days and 591 km that María spent feeding on the coast of Kodiak Island in late April. The information provided by this tagged whale documents a single whales’ migration, which is consistent with previous studies and constitutes the most complete northbound reported migration of an eastern gray whale.

Gray whale feeding on dense ampeliscid amphipod communities near Bamfield, British Columbia

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S. Oliver ◽  
Peter N. Slattery ◽  
Mark A. Silberstein ◽  
Edmund F. O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Gray Whale ◽  
Gray Whales ◽  
Northern Bering Sea ◽  
Amphipod Crustacean ◽  
Different Parts ◽  
Feeding Grounds ◽  
Made In ◽  
The Bering Sea

Gray whales fed on dense populations of ampeliscid amphipods while summering along the west coast of Vancouver Island. These amphipod crustacean communities are ecological analogs of the primary feeding grounds of gray whales in the northern Bering Sea. The same major genera of amphipods dominated the Alaskan and Canadian feeding grounds, including Ampelisca, Photis, Protomedeia, Anonyx, and Orchomene, and comprised 67 to 90% of the number of infaunal crustaceans at the two locations. This is the first documented report of gray whale feeding on benthic infauna south of the Bering Sea. Feeding gray whales observed in Pachena Bay produced an extensive record of feeding excavations in bottom sediments. Excavation patterns suggest that: (i) whales used suction to extract infaunal prey and sediments; (ii) a maximum of six excavations was made in one feeding dive; (iii) excavation size was related to whale size; (iv) small and large whales fed in different parts of the bay; and (v) whales effectively located and worked the densest patches of benthic prey. We estimate that a 6-m whale consumed 116 kg of infaunal prey per 12-h day, and that a 12-m whale consumed 552 kg per 12-h day. Scavenging lysianassid amphipods were attracted to feeding disturbances within seconds and preyed on injured and dislodged infauna. Individual feeding excavations were large, deep valleys in a tube-mat plateau. In addition to the lysianassids, many other infauna undoubtedly colonize these highly modified habitats, resulting in important effects on the structure of benthic communities.

Swarming benthic crustaceans in the Bering and Chukchi seas and their relation to geographic patterns in gray whale feeding

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1531-1542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy L. Kim ◽  
John S. Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Baja California ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
Gray Whale ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Gray Whales ◽  
Feeding Ground ◽  
Geographic Patterns ◽  
Feeding Grounds

Swarming benthic crustaceans were widespread in the Chukchi and Bering seas. Swarms differed in their geographic extent, local biomass, and life stages of swarming individuals and thus in their availability to feeding gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus). Immature amphipods apparently swarmed for dispersal, whereas cumaceans probably swarmed for mating. All life stages of the hyperbenthic mysids occurred above the sea floor. Although the geographic spread of mysid swarms and shrimp communities was much greater than for the amphipod and cumacean swarms, the latter swarmed in denser patches to produce higher local biomass. Crustacean swarms are important in describing the geographic patterns of gray whale feeding from the Chukchi Sea to Baja California, including the primary, secondary, and tertiary feeding grounds. The primary feeding ground is in the southern Chukchi Sea and especially the northern Bering Sea, where gray whales suck infaunal amphipods from fine sand, producing an extensive record of feeding excavations. The primary feeding ground is divided into a relatively deep zone (> 20 m), where tube-dwelling ampeliscid amphipods are the major prey, and a shallow zone (< 20 m), where burrowing pontoporeid amphipods dominate. The secondary feeding ground is in the southern Bering Sea along the eastern Alaska Peninsula and adjacent Alaskan mainland where shrimp and mysids are the major prey. The tertiary feeding ground is at the periphery of the primary and secondary feeding grounds in Alaskan waters and south of the Bering Sea where there is a general decrease in the availability of prey and their use by gray whales from Canada to Baja California. The tertiary prey communities include swarms of amphipods, cumaceans, and mysids as well as infaunal polychaete worms, but mysids are used the most by whales. The primary gray whale feeding ground was much smaller during low sea levels when the extensive Beringian Platform was exposed to air. This shallow shelf is a unique habitat that presently harbors the largest ampeliscid amphipod community in the world. At low sea level, swarming crustaceans like those sampled in the present study may have been equally or more important to gray whales than infaunal prey. These historical changes in prey availability may account for the catholic diet of the gray whale.

First Photographic Match of an Anomalously White Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Northeastern Chukchi Sea, Alaska, and Baja California, Mexico

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-12
Author(s):  
Amy L. Willoughby ◽  
Megan C. Ferguson ◽  
Janet T. Clarke ◽  
Amelia A. Brower
Keyword(s):  
Baja California ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
Gray Whale ◽  
Eschrichtius Robustus

New Record of Atypical Coloration in a Gray Whale Calf (Eschrichtius robustus) in Laguna Ojo de Liebre, Baja California Sur, Mexico

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 644-648
Author(s):  
César A. Salinas-Zavala ◽  
María V. Morales-Zárate ◽  
Andrés González-Peralta ◽  
Rosa J. Aviña-Hernández ◽  
Mariana L. Muzquiz-Villalobos
Keyword(s):  
New Record ◽  
Baja California ◽  
Gray Whale ◽  
Baja California Sur ◽  
Eschrichtius Robustus

Structure, emplacement and lateral expansion of the San José tonalite pluton, Peninsular Ranges batholith, Baja California, México

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 1933-1957 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.E Johnson ◽  
J.M Fletcher ◽  
C.M Fanning ◽  
R.H Vernon ◽  
S.R Paterson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Baja California ◽  
San Jose ◽  
Lateral Expansion ◽  
Peninsular Ranges

Using two drones to simultaneously monitor visual and acoustic behaviour of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in Baja California, Mexico

2020 ◽  
Vol 525 ◽  
pp. 151321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Héloïse Frouin-Mouy ◽  
Ludovic Tenorio-Hallé ◽  
Aaron Thode ◽  
Steven Swartz ◽  
Jorge Urbán
Keyword(s):  
Baja California ◽  
Eschrichtius Robustus ◽  
Gray Whales ◽  
Acoustic Behaviour

scholarly journals Future of Coastal Lagoons in Arid Zones under Climate Change and Anthropogenic Pressure. A Case Study from San Jose Lagoon, Mexico

Resources ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Imaz-Lamadrid ◽  
Jobst Wurl ◽  
Ernesto Ramos-Velázquez
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Baja California ◽  
Coastal Lagoons ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Geospatial Analysis ◽  
Baja California Peninsula ◽  
Arid Zones ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure ◽  
San Jose ◽  
The Future

In arid and semiarid zones, groundwater plays a key role in the ecology and availability of freshwater. Coastal lagoons in arid zones have great importance as a refuge for species of flora and fauna, as a source of freshwater, and for recreational purposes for local communities and tourism. In addition, as environments under natural stress, they are suffering pressure from anthropogenic activities and climate change, especially in zones with intense touristic development as in the case of the Baja California Peninsula in northwest Mexico. In this paper, we analyze the future of a coastal lagoon impacted by climate change and anthropogenic pressures. We constructed a groundwater MODFLOW-SWI2 model to predict changes in freshwater–saltwater inputs and correlated them with the geospatial analysis of the distribution and evolution of the water body and surrounding vegetation. The methodology was applied to the San Jose lagoon, one of the most important wetlands in the Baja California peninsula, which had been affected by anthropogenic activities and endangered by climate change. According to our water balance, the deficit of the San Jose aquifer will increase by 2040 as a result of climate change. The water table north of the lagoon will drop, affecting the amount of freshwater inflow. This reduction, together with an increase of evapotranspiration and the sea-level rise, will favor an increase of mineralization, reducing the surface water and groundwater quality and in consequence affecting the vegetation cover. Without proper management and adequate measures to mitigate these impacts, the lagoon may disappear as a freshwater ecosystem. Results of this research indicate that the use of a groundwater flow model, together with a geospatial analysis provide effective tools to predict scenarios for the future of coastal lagoons, and serve as a basis for land planning, nature conservation, and sustainable management of these ecosystems.

Saving the Gray Whale: People, Politics, and Conservation in Baja California

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 561
Author(s):  
Lane Simonian ◽  
Serge Dedina ◽  
Velma Garcia-Gorena
Keyword(s):  
Baja California ◽  
Gray Whale
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