ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A highly endangered whale is continuing its journey east from Russian waters toward Alaska.
U.S. and Russia researchers have tracked a 13-year-old male western Pacific gray whale to a location about 80 miles north of St. Paul Island, part of Alaska’s Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea.
Western Pacific gray whales are the second-most threatened species of the large whales and their population stands at only 130 animals.
Western Pacific gray whales spend summers near Sahkalin (SOCK’-a-leen) Island at the south end of the Sea of Okhotsk (oh-CAHTSK’) but little is known of their winter habits.
Eastern Pacific gray whales breed are commonly seen off Alaska. They give birth in Mexico and California waters and spend summers on feeding grounds in Alaska’s Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas.
