New peril for gray whale survival? Predatory orcas spotted in Baja calving lagoon
A gray whale is seen near a Baja breeding ground in the Gulf of California in this Jan. 19, 2017 photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard via Reuters. (Photo: Associated Press)
Gulf of California resident orcas have been spotted in a rare breeding ground in Mexico’s Baja California.
Scientists aren’t sure what to make of the sightings, but they believe it could be a sign that many of the Southern Resident killer whales — thought to have numbered in the single-digit thousands in the 1970s — have lost some of their old numbers.
“We’ve been hearing the orcas on a daily basis since June,” Joe Binder, chief scientist for the Baja California Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, said in an email. “The first three sightings I think were just regular old Southern Residents that happened to be in a particular area. I believe they were just there for a particular reason — a breeding season or a birth event.”
Orcas have been spotted in the Gulf of California in the past; they have been filmed as well. This year, however, the whales have been seen in such a large number that they are causing problems — particularly for endangered sea turtles around Baja.
“The whales are swimming right up to the Pacific white-turtle hatchling hatchings,” said Don Peevy, manager of the Baja Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Cabo Pulmo.
A gray whale is seen near a Baja breeding ground in the Gulf of California in this Jan. 19, 2017 photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard via Reuters. (Photo: Associated Press)
“It’s very alarming; there is a lot of disturbance and you can’t see what’s happening.”
Cabo Pulmo is a breeding ground for blue, green and leatherback sea turtles, all of which can be extremely vulnerable to attacks by killer whales.
In this Feb. 17, 2017 photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, a