Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) Sightings in Eastern Beaufort Sea

• Published in: ARCTIC
• Main Authors: Rugh, David J., Fraker, Mark A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 1981
• Subjects: Animal distribution; Animal migration; Gray whales; Winter ecology; Canadian Beaufort Sea; Baja; Arctic; Barrow; Barter Island; Beaufort Sea; Chukchi; Point Barrow; Alaska
• Online Access: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65573

Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus, Lilljeborg) migrate north each spring to feeding grounds, mainly in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Regularly a few individuals travel as far northeast as Point Barrow, Alaska, and a few records have been made of sightings along the Alaska Beaufort Sea coast as far east as Barter Island . During summer 1980, three sightings of gray whales were made in the Canadian Beaufort Sea, well east of any previously recorded . All were in open water, well south of the pack ice front. . These sightings constitute an eastward extension of the known range of the gray whale by 575 km. . If these individuals migrated north along the coast from Baja California, Mexico, where the largest winter concentrations occur . [and] If they returned successfully to that wintering area, they swam a round-trip distance of 20,400 km in 9.5 to 11 months. This would be one of the longest known migrations of any mammal species.Key words: gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, cetacean, marine mammal, migration, Beaufort Sea