Thursday April 17, 2025
Daily Sitka Sentinel —
Dozens of gray whales are dancing around in shallow, nearshore waters north of Sitka this spring, raising their tails to the sky as they feed from the seafloor.
In recent years, mariners have noticed more and more gray whales visiting waters near Sitka. Researchers say roughly 150 to 200 gray whales appeared in the Sound last spring, soon after the returning Sitka herring population began to spawn.
Gray whales are arriving again this spring to feed along their annual, 12,000-mile-plus migration route from the coast of Baja California, where they breed each winter, to their northern foraging grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas.
On Wednesday, scientists with the Alaska Whale Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Baranof Warm Springs, counted about 60 to 70 gray whales in the Sound.