In the 1970s, it was believed that western North Pacific gray whales had gone extinct. Later in the 1990s,
there was a small group of the western North Pacific gray whales discovered off
of Sakhalin Island in Russia. Scientists
have monitored the population of the western North Pacific gray whales since
the 1990s. Of the small population,
scientists from the United States and Russia selected three of the whales to
monitor. Satellite-monitored tags did the
monitoring. The scientists got
surprising results from the tracking, which resulted in the longest migration
of a mammal ever documented. The tracked
whales had travelled a total of 14,000 miles.
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| Pictured above is a western North Pacific gray whale. Credit: Photograph by Craig Hayslip |
Not only
was the length of the trip surprising to the scientists, but because of the
satellite-monitored tags, it was also discovered that the endangered western
North Pacific gray whales had interacted with the eastern gray whales along the
way. There has been debate about whether
or not the western and eastern gray whales are separate species. If it is found to be true that they are the
same species, the chances of the recovery of the western gray whale
significantly increases. Photograph
comparisons were used for identifying and comparing the two types of
whales. Scientists have found pictures
of gray whales from areas like Mexico that match pictures of the western gray
whales from Russia.
In our
class, we have spent a lot of time discussing endangered and extinct
species. It is amazing that there is so
much hope for a species that was believed to be extinct forty-five years
ago. We have also discussed the
evolution of species. If the western
gray whales reproduce with the eastern gray whales, there is the possibility
that there will be genetic changes to both the western and eastern gray whales.
I think
that it is encouraging and exciting that the western North Pacific gray whales
crossed paths with the eastern gray whales.
The eastern gray whale population has fully recovered from their risk of
endangerment. Since they have fully
recovered and the western gray whales interact with them, it gives hope for a
stronger recovery for the western North Pacific gray whales.
Source: www.sciencedaily.com
Very interesting article! It is great how scientists are following this once to be extinct in the wild species. Hearing that the eastern and western gray whale population have now begun to interact is a great benefit in boosting the western gray whale's population size. Overall, great article! I can see how this directly relates our class!
ReplyDeleteThis was such a hopeful article! I feel as if most of the topics we discuss tend to be about ecological issues. This article presents a little piece of hope for the western North Pacific gray whales. I think it is extremely interesting to find out that the scientists believed that the two species were different, and now believe that they are the same.
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