Critically endangered western gray whales migrate to the eastern North Pacific
Western North Pacific gray whales (WGWs), once considered extinct, are critically endangered with unknown migratory routes and reproductive areas. We attached satellite-monitored tags to seven WGWs on their primary feeding ground off Sakhalin Island, Russia, three of which subsequently migrated to r...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0071 2024-06-02T08:13:54+00:00 Critically endangered western gray whales migrate to the eastern North Pacific Mate, Bruce R. Ilyashenko, Valentin Yu. Bradford, Amanda L. Vertyankin, Vladimir V. Tsidulko, Grigory A. Rozhnov, Vyacheslav V. Irvine, Ladd M. 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0071 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0071 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0071 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Biology Letters volume 11, issue 4, page 20150071 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X journal-article 2015 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0071 2024-05-07T14:16:13Z Western North Pacific gray whales (WGWs), once considered extinct, are critically endangered with unknown migratory routes and reproductive areas. We attached satellite-monitored tags to seven WGWs on their primary feeding ground off Sakhalin Island, Russia, three of which subsequently migrated to regions occupied by non-endangered eastern gray whales (EGWs). A female with the longest-lasting tag visited all three major EGW reproductive areas off Baja California, Mexico, before returning to Sakhalin Island the following spring. Her 22 511 km round-trip is the longest documented mammal migration and strongly suggests that some presumed WGWs are actually EGWs foraging in areas historically attributed to WGWs. The observed migration routes provide evidence of navigational skills across open water that break the near-shore north–south migratory paradigm of EGWs. Despite evidence of genetic differentiation, these tagging data indicate that the population identity of whales off Sakhalin Island needs further evaluation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Sakhalin The Royal Society Baja Pacific Biology Letters 11 4 20150071 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Western North Pacific gray whales (WGWs), once considered extinct, are critically endangered with unknown migratory routes and reproductive areas. We attached satellite-monitored tags to seven WGWs on their primary feeding ground off Sakhalin Island, Russia, three of which subsequently migrated to regions occupied by non-endangered eastern gray whales (EGWs). A female with the longest-lasting tag visited all three major EGW reproductive areas off Baja California, Mexico, before returning to Sakhalin Island the following spring. Her 22 511 km round-trip is the longest documented mammal migration and strongly suggests that some presumed WGWs are actually EGWs foraging in areas historically attributed to WGWs. The observed migration routes provide evidence of navigational skills across open water that break the near-shore north–south migratory paradigm of EGWs. Despite evidence of genetic differentiation, these tagging data indicate that the population identity of whales off Sakhalin Island needs further evaluation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mate, Bruce R. Ilyashenko, Valentin Yu. Bradford, Amanda L. Vertyankin, Vladimir V. Tsidulko, Grigory A. Rozhnov, Vyacheslav V. Irvine, Ladd M. |
spellingShingle |
Mate, Bruce R. Ilyashenko, Valentin Yu. Bradford, Amanda L. Vertyankin, Vladimir V. Tsidulko, Grigory A. Rozhnov, Vyacheslav V. Irvine, Ladd M. Critically endangered western gray whales migrate to the eastern North Pacific |
author_facet |
Mate, Bruce R. Ilyashenko, Valentin Yu. Bradford, Amanda L. Vertyankin, Vladimir V. Tsidulko, Grigory A. Rozhnov, Vyacheslav V. Irvine, Ladd M. |
author_sort |
Mate, Bruce R. |
title |
Critically endangered western gray whales migrate to the eastern North Pacific |
title_short |
Critically endangered western gray whales migrate to the eastern North Pacific |
title_full |
Critically endangered western gray whales migrate to the eastern North Pacific |
title_fullStr |
Critically endangered western gray whales migrate to the eastern North Pacific |
title_full_unstemmed |
Critically endangered western gray whales migrate to the eastern North Pacific |
title_sort |
critically endangered western gray whales migrate to the eastern north pacific |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0071 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0071 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0071 |
geographic |
Baja Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Baja Pacific |
genre |
Sakhalin |
genre_facet |
Sakhalin |
op_source |
Biology Letters volume 11, issue 4, page 20150071 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0071 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
20150071 |
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1800737555600113664 |