of the Fish and Wildlife Service was 

 off duty. Shortage of manpower and 

 bad weather gave unsatisfactory re- 

 sults. The census could not be ana- 

 lyzed with confidence. 



Census of 1954-55 



The 1954-55 census was a success. 

 Good weather prevailed and one of the 

 two whale counters employed showed 

 special adeptness in his work. For 

 the first tinne, the whale -watching post 

 at Point Loma was manned throughout 

 the season by two Fish and Wildlife 

 Service employees. They were con- 

 tinually on duty from 7 a. m. to 5 

 p. m., or during the entire 10 hours 

 of daylight. 



The post at Scripps Institution of 

 Oceanography was also manned for 

 the first time continually from 3 p. m. 

 to 5 p. m. 



Census of 1955-56 



Because the census of 1955-56 was 

 incomplete, its results cannot be com- 

 pared with those of other seasons. 



In addition to the posts at Point 

 Loma and La Jolla, an additional 

 whale -watching post was established 

 at Del Mar, five miles north of La 

 Jolla, for the education of Boy Scouts 

 under the supervision of Donald Lear, 

 then a graduate student at Scripps 

 Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, 

 The hours of watching were from 4 

 p. m. to 5 p. m., or slightly later as 

 daylight and visibility conditions per- 

 mitted. The Del Mar data are not 

 utilized in the present publication. 



The count for this season was low, 

 partly because of poor visibility and 

 partly because the main herd arrived 

 late and straggling. Severe storms 

 on the North Pacific in early Decem- 

 ber 1955 (see Danielsen and others, 

 1957) may have disrupted the migra- 

 tion and caused the whales not only 

 to arrive late in southern waters but 

 to arrive in clumps. Great gaps ap- 

 peared in the line of migration; sev- 

 eral concentrations of unusual size 

 were seen near San Diego. 



Census of 1956-57 



The season of 1956-57 was the most 

 successful of the five. The weather 

 remained fairly good. The count, as 

 anticipated on the basis of previous 

 observations by Hubbs and the writer, 

 proved to be the highest thus far 

 obtained. 



Counting of southward migrants at 

 Point Loma by the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service covered 10 hours each day 

 during the main migration. The Na- 

 tional Park Service helped before and 

 after the regular season and on week- 

 ends. The supplementary watch at 

 Scripps Institution of Oceanography 

 was active from 3 p. m. to 5 p. m. or 

 a little later. 



Table 3, giving the count of gray 

 whales during daylight hours, from 

 November 2, 1956, to March 25, 1957, 

 at Point Loma and La Jolla, is in- 

 cluded in order to show the rise and 

 fall of the migration. 



SUMMARY OF SHORE CENSUSES 



Three of five annual counts of south- 

 bound whales were conducted under 

 favorable weather conditions and were 

 nearly complete. These, fortxmately, 

 were on alternate seasons: 1952-53, 

 1954-55, and 1956-57, The other two 

 counts (1953-54 and 1955-56), made 

 under unfavorable weather conditions, 

 were incomplete. Data from the three 

 successful censuses indicate a steady 

 upward trend in the population. In 

 1952-53, 1954-55, and 1956-57, the 

 estimated populations passing San 

 Diego were, respectively, 2,894, 3,603, 

 and 4,454 (table 4). These figures 

 represent an increase in the estimates 

 of about 24 percent in each of the 

 2 -year periods. Such increases seem 

 too large for the population as a whole 

 when it is considered that: (1) the pop- 

 ulation is probably 50 percent males, 

 (2) females are believed to bear young 

 only once in two years, (3) all females 

 are not of breeding age, and (4) some 

 mortality among both young and adults 

 has been observed. 



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