Monday 1 July 2013

Gray while still in Walvis Bay

The gray whale (which remains the only one known to be in the Southern Hemisphere) - is still in Walvis Bay.

It was first seen on the 04 May 2013 and was most recently photographed by us on 28 June 2013 on our day out with Manica and some top performing local biology students (see below). The whale has been hanging around the Pelican Point area on the west side of the bay (see blue line on map below), where it has been seen by local tour operators on a nearly daily basis. This is an area of known high productivity so it is likely that the animal is feeding here.  Looking at photos taken over the last three months it does look like the animal has fattened up somewhat.

Several humpback whales have already been seen in the bay since late June on their way to breeding grounds further north. No reports yet of fraternising between the species, but perhaps the gray whale will join up with some of them for a journey to new areas.  We'll keep you updated.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi ... what happened to the Gray Whale ... did anyone get some tissue samples to determine if there is a link to the Eastern Pacific stock ... glad to hear the whale was / is taking the opportunity to fatten up

Anonymous said...

bowhead in cape cod bay over 1000 miles outside normal range - another stray - similar to right wales in Hervey Bay Australia well belong understood range

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/04/rare_sighting_of_bowhead_whale_in_cape_cod_bay