Shari Goforth received the following update on the gray whale with scars she photographed yesterday at Gualala Point Regional Park Beach:
Mark Sawyer: There’s a match to a 2023 calf, known as “Panther”. The images I matched to, and the additional info, comes from the GEMM Lab at OSU. They saw Panther in October, with no vessel strike scarring. Panther’s mother is a PCFG individual. Very, very sad, but hopefully having a 3-month window in which the injury took place will lend some additional insight into how injuries heal over time.
Lisa Hildebrand: Just tuning in here from the GEMM Lab. The CRC ID for this individual is 2603. Super sad to see it with this massive scar as it is still a very young whale. Calf in 2023 as Mark mentioned. From the photo caption it sounds like it was feeding and behaving normally so hopefully it makes it despite the traumatic wound! Thanks to everyone for sharing and passing on these details. Super interesting!
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