CBS News: Scientists Work to Identify San Francisco Bay's Enigmatic Gray Whales
- Behavior
- Species conservation
- Population monitoring
Published in CBS News: July 1, 2024
In recent years, the number of whales swimming in San Francisco Bay has increased dramatically, often with tragic results.
Why it's happening is still a bit of a mystery, but the painstaking work of one young researcher is helping identify the wayward whales in order to get a better understanding of their behavior.
When Josie Slaathaug chose her Master's research project, she could have selected an easier subject to observe than the gray whale.
"The way that they surface, they really love to just give you a sliver of their body--just the top, never the tail."
"Yeah, I like to make it hard on myself, you know? Add some challenge in there," she said, laughing. "The way that they surface, they really love to just give you a sliver of their body--just the top, never the tail."
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Read More{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Gray whale\/cropped-images\/gray-whale-baleen-shutterstock-526-1-3317-2591-1604510915.jpg","alt":"gray whale with mouth open above water","title":"Fish Feeding and Rapid Foraging Behavior Switching by Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in California","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/fish-feeding-and-rapid-foraging-behavior-switching-by-gray-whales-eschrichtius-robustus-in-california","label":"Research Paper","type":"publication"}
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