Whales down for the count at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center
Citizen scientists at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center are documenting a historic low in Gray Whale sightings, but the apparent decline doesn’t tell the whole story by Chelsea Sektnan From sunrise to sundown, binoculars pressed to their eyes, volunteer whale counters at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center in Rancho Palos Verdes scan the Pacific for the telltale puff of a gray whale blow. Some days, the ocean yields nothing but waves. Other times, a ripple, a spout, or the curve of a back is enough to send a thrill through the watchers on the bluff. Every day from December 1 through May 25 — the months of the gray whale migration — citizen scientists with the American Cetacean Society-Los Angeles Chapter (ACS-LA) Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project are stationed on the bluffs from about 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., watching the water and recording every sighting. Projects like this are part of a growing citizen science movement, where everyday people contribute to ecological research alongside marine biologists. Alisa Schulman-Janiger, director of the Gray Whale Census Project, at Point Vicente Interpretive Center on a cold January morning. Photo submitted by Alisa Schulman-Janiger…
Read this story on easyreadernews.com