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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2022
Research team studies whale features, survival
By ALLAYANA DARROW
Mail Tribune
A new website created by researchers at
Oregon State University brings the reali-
ties of life undersea to the surface, off er-
ing a chance for the public to virtually
meet whales that have survived propeller
injuries, fi shing gear entanglements and
changes in prey availability due to shifting
ocean conditions.
The website, individuwhale.com, cov-
ers ongoing research, information about
gray whales and stressors the animals face
due to human activity.
Descriptions of each whale include dis-
tinguishing features, length of time in
observation, feeding habits, birth, health
history and body condition. You can meet
“Scarlett,” a Pacifi c Northwest resident
since the mid-1990s, or “Buttons,” a cha-
meleon of the sea.
These whales gained their nicknames
from researchers in the Geospatial Ecology
of Marine Megafauna Laboratory at the
Oregon State Marine Mammal Institute.
The team has cataloged nearly 200 whales
in the Pacifi c Coast Feeding Group with
unique names and identifi cation numbers.
“We wanted to share with Oregonians,
and the public in general, the stories of
these whales because they are residents of
Oregon like us, and they have personali-
ties and stories to tell,” said lead researcher
Leigh Torres.
The majority of gray whales in the east-
ern north Pacifi c traverse the Oregon Coast
on their winter migration route to Mexico’s
breeding grounds, before turning north in
March to fi nd summer feeding grounds
between Alaska and Russia. The research
team studies a population of gray whales
that sticks around the West Coast in the
summer months, known as the Pacifi c
Coast Feeding Group.
Torres and the research team have con-
ducted annual health exams and research
on the population since 2016.
Boats and drones are used to spot
whales, then researchers collect fecal sam-
ples in their wake, which can be analyzed
for reproduction and stress markers.
Drone images allow for documentation
of body condition and behavior.
Among the featured whales: “Sole,”
fi rst sighted in 1999, always returns to a
3.2-mile area around Newport and Depoe
Bay.
“This is an incredible level of site fi del-
ity for an animal that can migrate 20,000
(kilometers) in a year,” according to Sole’s
IndividuWhale profi le. “It’s amazing how
reliably we found Sole in her ‘predictable
patch of the ocean,’ where most of the time
Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute
The Oregon resident gray whale ‘Scarlett’ is seen here with her calf ‘Rose’ on her back.
‘WE WANT PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THEIR
BEHAVIOR AND THESE INDIVIDUAL WHALES. WE’RE TRYING TO REACH THOSE
EVERYDAY OCEAN USERS. IF EVERYONE CHANGES ONE BEHAVIOR, LIKE
SLOWING DOWN WHILE BOATING NEAR THE REEFS WHERE GRAY WHALES FEED,
REDUCING USE OF PLASTICS THAT POLLUTE THE OCEAN AND REMOVING
RECREATIONAL CRABBING GEAR PROMPTLY SO ANIMALS DON’T GET TANGLED
IN IT, THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT CAN MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE.’
Leigh Torres | lead researcher
we see her foraging, so she must like the
prey on the menu here and be very good at
catching it.”
“Roller Skate,” fi rst identifi ed as a
calf in 2015, was spotted four years later
with fi shing line tangled around her fl uke.
In 2020, she was found diving a bit dif-
ferently, having survived a “very gnarly
embedded wound, and part of her fl uke
was eff ectively amputated,” said doctoral
student Lisa Hildebrand.
With the website, the research team
hopes to educate the public about threats
facing the state’s gray whale population.
Happy
New Year
One featured whale, “Zorro,” was once a
regular in the group, but has not been spot-
ted in 2021, according to the research team.
Responding to a decline in the num-
ber of whales observed each summer in
the Oregon study area, the research team
investigates feeding strategies in certain
habitats, and the connection between a
decline in kelp density and decreased prey
availability.
In Port Orford, the team collects data
on kelp health, urchin density, zooplankton
and gray whale foraging. Over the past six
years, the team documented a “coincident
and dramatic increase in urchin density and
decline in kelp health,” and decreased zoo-
plankton prey and whale foraging.
“We want people to understand the con-
nection between their behavior and these
individual whales,” Torres said. “We’re
trying to reach those everyday ocean users.
If everyone changes one behavior, like
slowing down while boating near the reefs
where gray whales feed, reducing use of
plastics that pollute the ocean and remov-
ing recreational crabbing gear promptly so
animals don’t get tangled in it, these are all
things that can make a huge diff erence.”
Thanks for your support!
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