[CINC] More Gray Whale food for thought!

[paul jr petrich]

Bob and Other Whale People, More Whale Food for thought!
 At 2008 American Cetacean Society research gatherings in Monterey , a special day was devoted to this title "Gray Whales and Climate Change: Sentinels of the North Pacific. "  Included were least three studies that verified suprisingingly opportunistic changes in Gray whale feeding habits.  See Sue Moore of the NOAA FS, National Marine Mammal Lab., Alaska FSC, and Applied Physics Lab, U. of Wash. From her abstract: "…but in the eastern North Pacific evidence is emerging that gray whales are delaying their southbound migration, expanding their feeding range along the migration route and northward to Arctic waters, and evan remaining in polar waters over winter-all indications that North Pacific andArctic ecosystems are in transition."
  Also, see: "Seasonal Resident Gray Whales in the Pacific North West: Results from Collab Research Between 1999to 2007." by Calambokidis, J, A.Kliik, L. Schlender, J. Laake, M. Gosho. B. Gisborne, W.MeGill, V.Deeke, C. Tombach, C. Newell, J. Darling, W. Szaniszlo, D. Goley, and B. Witteveen.  Key findings from abstract: " Gray whales have been documented feeding through the spring, summer, and fall in a number of areas well south of their preliminary feeding grounds in Alaskan waters. these studies documented locations  off the west coast of Vancouver Island and one area north of Pudget Sound. It concludes: " " The variable locations and prey of these whales is a demonstration of the surprisingly versatility of gray whales, a species that was previously thought to be a highly specialized feeder with a very regimented migration."
 Also, see " The Beggar's Banquet: Gray Whale Predator-Prey Dynamics on the Outskirts." by Laura Joan Feyrer, Dave Daffus and Christina Tombach-Wright. Study by Whale Research Lab, Dept. of Geography.      Paul 
On May 15, 2012, at 7:31 AM, Michael Berg wrote,


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