GRAY WHALES AT BAHIA MAGDALENA LAGOON COMPLEX MEXICO, DURING WINTER 2012

Photographic identification surveys were conducted during the 2012 winter in the Bahia Magdalena lagoon complex in Baja California Sur, Mexico. We photographically identified 275 individual whales of which 234 were Single whales and 41 were Mother-calf pairs (Mc), of these, 83% of the Mc pair’s were sighting in waters around the Lopez Mateos area, while the majority of Singles were sighted in waters near to mouth of Bahia Magdalena (89%). Of the total number of whale’s photoidentified, 91% of Single and 63% of Mc pair’s, were sighted only one time. The whales with longest residence time (duration of stay) inside the lagoon complex were Mc pairs, with the longest residence time of 27 days and an average residence time for Mcs of 3.9 days. The longest residence time of a Single whale was seven days and an average residence time of 1.2 days.