By Dr. Holly Fearnbach, Marine Mammal Research Director
SR3 contributed to a collaborative research paper published today in the premier scientific research journal, Science, titled “Boom-bust cycles in gray whales associated with dynamic and changing Arctic conditions. The paper integrated decades of estimates of abundance, calf production, stranding records, and body condition measurements of Eastern North Pacific gray whales to relate population dynamics to changes in prey availability and climate change on their Arctic feeding grounds. SR3 collaborated with NOAA to collect aerial images of gray whales using drones to assess their body condition. Climate change is increasingly impacting marine ecosystems, especially those found in polar regions, and this important paper demonstrates that even long-lived, highly mobile species like gray whales are sensitive to changing conditions.
Aerial image of a gray whale female and her calf as they migrate northwards off the coast of California. Image collected non-invasively using an unmanned drone at an altitude of >150ft above the whale under NMFS permit # 19091.