13 North Bound 5 Calves 0 South Bound 9.25 hrs

April 26,2016

Scarback the 40+ year old Gray Whale and calf swam past Point Dume, migrating north on this bright sunny day.

Scarback is a beloved and famous Gray Whale. She has a large deep wound on the mid section of her body which is scarred and covered over in bright orange lice on her dorsal hump area. The lice that live on gray whales are helpful and feed on dead and decayed tissue. It is unknown for certain how Scarback was injured but theories include the possibility of an exploding harpoon in 1985-87, others involve a ship strike. Scarback is a local Summer Resident Gray Whale of Depot Bay in Oregon. Marine Biologist and Researcher Carrie Newell wrote a book documenting the Summer Resident Gray Whales. The book includes detailed descriptions and photos of the individual whales including Scarback that stay for more than 2 days and up to a few months to feed. These whales are documented returning year after year. Scarback has birthed several calves over the years. One was born in the mid 1990’s and others include Scarlett in 2001 , Milkyway in 2004 and another in 2008. The Summer Resident Gray Whales stop along the coast of Oregon to feed cutting their migration short but still migrate south for birthing and come back again in the summer to feed on mysid shrimp.

Four more cow calf pairs migrated past Point Dume today. Two pairs traveled through together and displayed many behaviors including spyhopping, rolling, bubble blasts and feeding behaviors with sand seeping out of mouths. Lots of interacting between moms and calves with calf rolling up and over moms back. The quad came in and left as a tight group as seen in the photo below.

Three solo Gray Whales were also seen today migrating past Point Dume. All of them traveled through without stopping on a path that goes out towards the horizon with longer dive times.

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