Predatory orcas spotted in Baja calving lagoon
done to be able to get a positive ID.’’
Then, last week, another pod of orcas swam into the lagoon. This time, there were no grey whales – most were either in the Arctic where they traditionally spend their summers gorging on small shrimp-like crustaceans that they scoop up off the ocean floor, or just starting their southward migration down the North American coastline. Grey whales usually inhabit the lagoon starting in late January and leave by mid-march or April.
It is not clear whether the two pods of orcas consisted of the same individuals. While researchers were able to photograph and identify each of the killer whales in January, a research team was not present to photograph the intrusion last week, said Steven Swartz, a primary researcher with the Laguna San Ignacio Ecosystem Science Project.
‘‘Orcas are part of the normal fauna down there,’’ said Swartz, who is based in Maryland when not studying whales in Baja. ‘‘They are offshore up and down the Baja coast and in the Gulf of California, so they are not strangers to the area. What was odd is that we’ve never had any bona fide, verified real time sightings inside the gray whale breeding lagoons.’’
He said that while no killer whale had ever been documented in the lagoon previously – going back to whaling records from the mid-1800s, when San Franciscobased whale hunter Charles Melville Scammon slaughtered thousands of grey whales with his crew – it wasn’t surprising that these social and intelligent animals would find it.
‘‘This is the second time we know of, though they may have come in more frequently but we never saw them,’’ he said. ‘‘Maybe they came in at night. We don’t know. Now whether these guys are just coming in to take a look around and then they’ll leave or come back later, we don’t know.’’
Earlier
National
Atmospheric this month, the Oceanic and Administration reported that the number of grey whales living along the Eastern North Pacific was down almost 40% from its peak in 2016. In addition, the number of calves born last year was the lowest they’ve seen since they started taking records.
‘‘You know, every calf counts,’’ said Swartz. ‘‘As the population is trying to recover . . . and calf counts are down and reproduction rates are down, this could be cause for concern.’’ –TNS