[CINC] Corrections on Rock and Roll Condor X 5/14

[Anthony Lombardi]

I still just don't get the doubt in whether these whales actually "feed" along this migration,  it has been document in pictures, videos, and in person.   They have been seen "feeding", all be it, it is not in the amounts of surplus of the food they find up north,  they still are "feeding" or shall I give it the term snacking.  There are numerous accounts of them surface feeding on krill and feeding on tube worms and other critters along the migration route and not in their "feeding" grounds.  I don't understand why we would still have to concur with researchers to see if this is true.  Here is an analogy,  if I have eaten a big breakfast and try to go all day not to eat but come across something like  a snack to hold me over.......IS that not FEEDing. What's the difference, just because they are not staying in the area and continually feeding doesn't mean that they are not in fact feeding,  science doesn't really have to be this difficult. 
 Here's an example of some surface "feeding or shall I say snacking".  I do not agree with the boat handling in the video but it shows what we are talking about     

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJtG4HwhQDg&feature=player_embedded
Thanks for listening to my rant, Anthony

--- On Wed, 5/16/12, Mr Zalophus <mr.zalophus at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Mr Zalophus <mr.zalophus at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [CINC] Corrections on Rock and Roll Condor X 5/14
To: Channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 9:42 AM

Colleagues,
 
Sorry to add to an already lengthy discourse.  But as Dr. John Heynig once told me when I asked him point blank about reports of Gray Whales feeding outside the Alaskan grounds (at the ACS Conference on board the Queen Mary, before his death), he stated emphatically that Grays do not feed on their migration.  The general public often thinks wild animals do nothing but feed, and are motivated primarily by food. There may even be an odd individual that exhibits some wierd behavior, but the over arching fact remains that they feed exclusively in Alaskan waters.  I have had the privilege of hearing Capt Mat talk about Gray Whales for many years, and that is what he says...they fast during the migration.   When people see Grays pausing for a while along the migration route, they are not feeding.  Are they nursing, playing, mating, socializing, grooming, resting, studying the environment, orienting themselves?   or all of the above.

Bob



On Tue, May 15, 2012 at 7:31 AM, Michael Berg <michaelberg6 at gmail.com> wrote:


My apologies for mistakes in my 5/14 report. 
I am a newbie naturalist also new at writing
reports.  I appreciate comments from more
experienced naturalists as I want reports 
I write to be accurrate.
The gray whale activity I reported in my 5/14
report looked like shallow feeding to me but
Capt. Mat did not state that they were feeding.
I also reported that Black Storm-petrels were
observed. They looked like Storm-petrels to me
and probably were Ashley Storm-petrels not
Black Storm-petrels.
 
Michael
michaelberg6 at gmail.com 
 
_______________________________________________
Channel_islands_naturalist_corps mailing list
Channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org

http://www.rain.org/mailman/listinfo/channel_islands_naturalist_corps




-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

_______________________________________________
Channel_islands_naturalist_corps mailing list
Channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org
http://www.rain.org/mailman/listinfo/channel_islands_naturalist_corps
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.rain.org/pipermail/channel_islands_naturalist_corps/attachments/20120516/234b6ef0/attachment.html>