[CINC] (no subject)

[Paul Jr. Petrich]

Fellow CINC volunteers,

 This is a good time to share some new insights with you about our
friends the Gray Whales that surfaced at the  recent Cetacean Society
Conference in Monterey ( Nov. 15-17 ). The last day  of that conference
of esteemed marine scientist was a free to the public look at all the
latest research related specifically to Gray Whales. Titled " Gray
Whales and Climate Change: Sentinels of the North Pacific/Arctic
Ecosystem", the presenting researchers seemed in agreement about some
surprising new findings. First, Eastern Pacific subspecies is now
considered to be a very opportunistic feeder, not  a feeder  restricted
to  bottom feeding  specifically  in  certain locals  at a  specific
season.  One presenter  showed how these Grays up in the Arctic 
region  actually are moving their migration to feed  farther north as 
Arctic ice  retreats  in the face of climate change.

 Relating to this retreat of ice, another presenter detailed how this
retreat may "increase" the food supply for Grays in the Arctic, due to
more sunlight  reaching the ocean depths at the retreating edge of the 
ice flows, totally opposite to the situation facing the polar bear.
Other researchers presented a historical study of a durable creature on
this earth that has survived over 120,000 years through  many  cycles
of  cooling and warming extremes- when the industrial input of our
species was not a factor. However,the Western Pacific Gray Whales were
not presented in this rather positive light , and as one researcher
theorized, "may exist in so few numbers that the subspecies will not
survive.. at only a few hundred now". Whereas the Eastern Pacific
subspecies appears to be moving across the North American Arctic to
feed, their is no indication the two subspecies have  mingled.
Surprisingly, however, researchers could not be specific about where
the Western Pacific Grays gave birth to their calves, and studied them
in northern feeding grounds exclusively. In the North Atlantic, the
last Gray Whale recorded as killed in the by whalers was in the late
1600s or early 1700s.

 Among those in attendance at this conference was Captain Matt, of the
Condor Express. I am sure he will have his always informative
commentaries full of these latest facts, and more. 

 Happy whale watching to all. l will be in Sicily and Dalmatia for the 
next six months, and will  spread  the news of the good work you are
doing  to ocean enthusiast over there!    Paul Petrich
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