March 30, 2020 — As gray whales began their northern migration along the Pacific Coast earlier this month — after a year of unusually heavy die-offs — scientists were poised to watch, ready to collect information that could help them learn what was killing them.
The coronavirus outbreak, however, has largely upended that field work — and that of incalculable other ecological studies nationwide.
A large network of marine biologists and volunteers in California normally spend this time of year keeping an eye on gray whales, documenting their numbers and counting strandings as the leviathans swim from Mexico to the Arctic.
Scott Mercer, who started Point Arena’s Mendonoma Whale and Seal Study seven years ago, said the watch was called off last week, as he and his wife were told by a local sheriff to disperse and go home.