As you may remember from my post Gray Whale Stranding last year, large whale strandings require a lot help.
Over the weekend, in nearby Skagit county, 2 dead gray whales have washed ashore in separate locations. This area is covered by the CPSMMSN, and it looks as though some of our group from the WMMSN will head down to assist with the necropsies of these 2 marine mammals. Necropsies are done to try and determine cause of death and gather samples for scientific research. Unfortunately I can't be there today to help, but maybe for tomorrow.
In addition to those 2 stranding events, a group of transient orcas attacking a different gray whale was caught on tape by whale watchers. Here's some coverage from King 5 News (Seattle) on the event:
Wow! Pretty spectacular to see that kind of attack going on right here in the Puget Sound.
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That is so crazy! I had no idea that orcas behaved that way. Would the orcas eat the gray whale or where they just kind of bullying it?
ReplyDeleteTina, here in our Puget Sound we have 2 distinctly different orcas. There are the resident orca pods that eat a diet of fish, and the transient orca pods that eat a diet of all kinds of things including other marine mammals like this gray whale.
ReplyDeleteI've heard from some whale watchers that even our fish eating resident orcas will occasionally bully a small marine mammal like a dolphin. They don't eat it, but will sort of play with it, or then again they may be using this technique to teach their young.
They are truly fascinating animals! I enjoy learning about them :0)
Thank you Alice! I'm glad you enjoyed the read. I'll be posting more about this grey whale stranding in the days ahead and hope to take part in the necropsy that will be performed on Wednesday. If you are on Facebook, join the WMMSN page for updates and info WMMSN on facebook
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