Grey whales thinner - Global warming blamed
Marine Biologists on the US Pacific coast are noticing that grey whales are, looking alarmingly thin. They fear that global warming is adversely affecting their feeding grounds in the Bering Sea.
Steven Swartz, head researcher with the National Marine Fisheries Service, who observe the whales, explained: "Instead of looking plump coming off the summer months, they have noticeable depressions behind the head, with scapulas visible through the skin, and concave sections above the tail. This is enough to cause alarm."
(via Discovery Channel)
There are concerns that these whales may be less able to reproduce. The whales were taken off the endangered species list in the mid-1990s but their numbers may be declining again.
The whales' breeding ground off the coast of Mexico is closely observed as a "litmus test" for their breeding. In the 1980s around 350 calves were born each year. Last year only 100 births were recorded.
