Of all the great works done by various endangered species protection acts and activist groups, the biggest success story is the gray whale. Hunted to the brink of extinction by commercial whaling ships, the species has rebounded to the point where it has actually been taken off the endangered species list. However, gray whale sightings off the coast of California, normally a gray whale hot spot, are drying up. At one point there were 25 on a day, now there are 5, if you’re lucky. Are the gray whales dying off? If not, what’s happening to all the gray whales?
This comes at a time in which the International Whaling Commission and NOAA are coming together to set whale hunting quotas for the next 10 years. Whales are still an important food supply for indigenous tribes living in the Arctic, as well as a delicacy for folks in Japan. If the whale population has suffered a steep decline due to natural circumstances (as is theorized), any further increase in hunting numbers wouldn’t be doing the species any favors.
Tags: gray whales, California, endangered species, gray whale count plummets, gray whales disappearing, International Whaling Commission, NOAA