“They’re sentinels for what’s going on in the North Pacific ecosystem writ large,” says Sue Moore, a research scientist at the University of Washington who is helping lead NOAA’s probe. Trouble for them could indicate much bigger problems-including along their feeding grounds on the sea floor, a crucial part of the marine food web and an area that scientists know relatively little about because it's so logistically difficult to study. Gray whales are known for being a robust, adaptable species. But scientists can’t rule out other factors, including the possibility that the whale population grew too large and is simply correcting itself.Įxperts up and down the coast are urgently investigating because these mammals, with their 12,000-mile migrations, are critical barometers of ocean health. Much of the early research points to climate change, which is rapidly warming the Arctic Ocean and may be reducing the quantity or quality of whales’ food supply. The origins of the decline are so far a mystery. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared an “unusual mortality event” and launched an investigation into the causes.īetween 20, the estimated population of eastern North Pacific gray whales plummeted by nearly a quarter, from almost 27,000 individuals to around 20,500. The changes observed in Mexico are evidence of a more widespread phenomenon, one brought to public attention in 20, when strandings of gray whales along the Pacific coast of North America surged dramatically. On a normal early February morning like this one, Camacho would expect to see several pairs of mothers and calves. Perhaps most concerning is the dramatic drop in births. More whales than usual have been washing up dead along the shore. The whales are arriving in the estuary later in the year, and many appear malnourished, the jagged outline of vertebrae visible on their typically fatty backs. Lucrecio splashes boats with his tail Olivia nudges her calves to be caressed by starry-eyed tourists.īut over the last three years, Camacho and others have noticed ominous changes. Over the dozen years he’s been guiding, Camacho, 33, has devised nicknames for whales that return each season. Here the adults mate, and females give birth and rear their young in a network of tranquil lagoons. Suddenly an adult whale thrusts its tapered head straight through the surface, pausing for five long seconds before disappearing under the waves.Įncounters like these have for decades drawn tourists to this marshy stretch of Mexico, where each winter thousands of Eastern Pacific gray whales arrive from Alaska’s Arctic. Today he’s in search of gray whales.Īfter several minutes Camacho spies his target: a heart-shaped cloud of ocean spray erupting from the water. During most of the year, Camacho hunts grouper, sole, and hammerhead sharks. PUERTO ADOLFO LÓPEZ MATEOS, MÉXICOAs early morning fog lifts off the Baja California coastline, Alushe Camacho steers a small fishing boat through a mangrove-lined estuary, his eyes fixed on the horizon.
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