ACS Monterey Bay Program for February 2004
Western Gray Whales: Overview and
Current Concerns for the Population
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| Speaker: Bridget Watts, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories | |
Two geographically separate populations of the gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, inhabit the North Pacific. While the eastern stock has successfully rebounded from exploitation, the western, or Korean-Okhotsk, population has not. It is designated "critically endangered" by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and is thought to number approximately a mere 100 individuals.
Research began off northeastern Sakhalin Island, Russia in 1995 at the site of the only known feeding grounds, near Piltun Lagoon. This area is undergoing intense development for oil and gas extraction by multiple consortiums including the U.S corporations. Additional concerns for western gray whales include low genetic diversity, small number of breeding animals, and a male-bias in the population.
Our speaker has done field work in the area of Sakhalin Island and is one of the few scientists who have been able to reach this remote region.
Please join us to learn of this critically endangered population which, although genetically distinct from our local coastal animals, is never the less a vital part of the Gray whale story.
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Last
updated February 28, 2004.