![]() In 2015 we deployed a video suction cup tag on this individual, by which we were able to see her being followed closely by three males in the group. We suspect that she does not venture into Puget Sound during years she has a calf, as evidenced by one-year gaps in sightings. Though she has been sighted at least 18 different years since 1990, Earhart has never been seen with a calf. CRC-22 is one of the few known females in the group, and has been given the name Earhart, after Amelia, for pioneering feeding use of the N Puget Sound intertidal waters. CRC ID #22 – EarhartĪlong with CRC-21, this individual was one of the first identified in the area. Shackleton has not been seen to fluke when diving, possibly because he has an injured fluke. In 2008 we were able to catch an exact departure date from the area for this individual, when he was spotted heading north along the SW coast of Vancouver Island on May 24. He is frequently seen with CRC-22, and both individuals were first identified together in 1990. CRC ID #21 – Shackletonįirst identified in our initial survey of the North Puget Sound region, CRC-21 appears to be one of the individuals who pioneered this risky feeding behavior in shallow intertidal waters, earning him the name Shackleton, after the renowned polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. Feeding pits, large pits in the sediment layer created when the whales forage for ghost shrimp, have been seen in these areas via satellite images.īelow are some of the regulars and their “names”. In the North Puget Sound they are generally spotted feeding around the southern ends of Whidbey and Camano Island, Saratoga Passage, Port Susan, Gedney/Hat Island, and the Snohomish Delta. They then continue north to the Bering and Chukchi seas for summer feeding. March-May) in the North Puget Sound waters. During their northern migration from Baja California, these individuals break off of the migration route to feed on ghost shrimp for 2-3 months each spring (approx. ![]() They are also sometimes referred to as the Puget Sound Regulars or the Saratoga Grays. The North Puget Sound gray whales, also known as the “Sounders,” represent roughly a dozen individual whales, part of the larger population of the Eastern North Pacific gray whales.
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