The Gray Whale Winter Migration Continues

A gray whale in San Ignacio Lagoon.  C. Coimbra photo

Strung like gray beads along the west coast of the Pacific Ocean are thousands of gray whales swimming to the warm waters of Mexico.

Yesterday a gray whale swam thru the kelp in the waters near Big Sur, California, while over 1000 miles away, in San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California, whale watchers  just reported: 46 gray whales in the Baja California lagoon and that 15 were adult females with their newborn calves (baby gray whales)! 

There are several places in Mexico where migrating gray whales will spend their winter.  Besides San Ignacio Lagoon, there is Scammon's Lagoon--also knowns as Laguna Ojo de Liebre,and  Magdalena Bay.

Gray Whales Begin A Long Migration

Thousands of gray whales are heading south for winter. 

  In Fall, groups--or pods--of gray whales leave the cold seas of Alaska where they feed all summer long to spend their winters in the warm and clear waters of Mexico. This is called a migration.  It is one of the longest migration routes in nature.  

Two weeks ago we saw over 20 gray whales swim past us along the Central Coast of California.  A gray whale swims about 6 miles per hour.

Of all the whales in the ocean, gray whales are the oldest baleen whales in the world. (Baleen means these whales do not have sharp teeth like killer whales.)

By the end of December most of the gray whales will reach the Mexican waters of Baja California. 

It's not as easy to safely swimming this 5,000 mile route as it was before us humans came upon the scene.  Over 100 years ago humans hunted gray whales almost to the point where there were only a few left.  But gray whales are protected from big time hunting.  This helped gray whales rebuild their population.

Neptune 911 For Kids will update the gray whale migration later in December.