The first whales with cubs sailed to Kronotsky Bay in Kamchatka
Females with gray whale cubs have begun arriving in the Kronotsky Bay in Kamchatka, Kamchatka.Today reports with reference to the Kronotsky State Nature Reserve.
Three mothers with whales have already arrived and started feeding after a long journey: They traveled about eight thousand kilometers from the coast of North America, where the cubs were born in late December and early March. These are representatives of the rare Okhotsk population of gray whales, which is under special state protection.
“The first to arrive were female K151 and her cub, who received the catalog number K231. We met them on June 12th. Interestingly, the last time, in 2023, this kitty brought her cub the very first, in early June. Most mothers with babies approach the shores of Kamchatka by the end of June, in July,” said Evgenia Volkova, a researcher at the reserve, a marine biologist.
According to observers, the whales look well-fed, but the mothers are thin. It takes a lot of energy to carry a baby, feed it with milk and take a long migration route, and the females will have to gain lost fat reserves in a short feeding season.
“With the help of a quadcopter, we observed how the cub dived under the mother’s stomach and stayed there for a long time, while she “hung” in one place, hardly moving. We assume that the baby whale was fed with milk,” said Volkova.
She stressed that it is forbidden to approach females with cubs on tourist boats, so as not to disturb them and not distract them from feeding during a very important period of life for animals.
The Okhotsk (western) gray whale population is extremely small and vulnerable. It is recognized as critically endangered and requires immediate conservation and restoration measures. At the end of 2024, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment approved a Population Conservation Strategy.
Photo by Dmitry Balakirev