NATURALIST'S 



NOTEBOOK 



Californians and North Carolinians 

 have more in common than they may 

 think: mountain vistas, fertile cropland, 

 sweeping coastlines — and whales. 



People from all over the world 

 travel to California to whale watch, 

 especially during the gray whale's 

 migrations along the Pacific coast. 



But the Tar Heel state can also 

 boast leviathans passing offshore as 

 they travel in small groups up and 

 down the Atlantic coast. 



Though other species of whales 



By Daun Daemon 



visit Carolina waters, humpbacks are 

 most visible because they stick close 

 to their migration routes and breeding 

 grounds. Unlike the Pacific coast's 

 gray whales, however, the Atlantic's 

 humpbacks don't loiter and don't 

 come as close to shore. 



"Their time in North Carolina is 

 so ephemeral that it would be difficult 

 to set up a whale-watching business," 

 says Andy Wood, curator of education 

 at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort 

 Fisher. 



But folks at the coast do spot 

 whales. Every year, Wood hears reports 

 of a few humpbacks swimming in 

 shallow water close to the beach. 

 Occasionally, the massive mammals 

 linger for a few days in areas rich 

 with fish. 



Mostly, they stay on the move. 



Whale migrations — in the Atlantic 

 and Pacific oceans — are driven by two 

 forces: feeding and reproduction. 



On the North Carolina coast, the 

 best chances of glimpsing a humpback 



26 HOLIDAY 1997 



