Unusual Gray Whale Behavior that Year

Curiously that same spring of 2000, more gray whales were observed in Pasagshak Bay than any other previous year. Local residents took great delight in this unusual phenomenon as many whales swam close to the beach, rolled in the surf, interacted with small boats including kayaks, spyhopped, breached in shallow water, waved their flippers and engaged in "friendly" whale behaviors associated with the shallow lagoons in Baja, Mexico but not in Alaska.

On 6/21/00 Stacy accompanied visiting author Brenda Peterson on a boat to observe Gray Whales that were not traveling north but staying in Kodiak waters for the summer and were reported to be feeding. Stacy and Brenda, on board the MV Ten Bears, witnessed a feeding aggregation of 400 Gray Whales in 70-90 fathoms of water off the SE side of Ugak Island. This number was confirmed the next day by aerial survey conducted by Sue Moore of the NMFS Marine Mammal Lab.