.

>>> THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN UNDER WRITTEN BYES?

APPLICATIONS, THE PACIFIC MOUNTAIN NETWORK, THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING AND ASHLAND OIL.

>>> THE GIANT WHALES, FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS UNCHALLENGED LORDS OF THE SEA, IN RECENT TIMES HAPPENLESS VICTIMS OF THE WHALER'S DEADLY HARPOONS, AND EVEN THOUSAND WITH MANY OF THEM PROTECTED FROM THE COMMERCIAL HUNTERS, PRACTICALLY EVERY SPECIES OF GIANT WHALE REMAINS ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION.

IN THE GLOOM THERE IS A GLIMMER OF HOPE.

ONE SPECIES MADE AN ASTONISHING RECOVERY, NOT ONCE BUT TWICE, THE GRAY WHALES OF THE PACIFIC HAVE COME BACK.

♪ [ MUSIC ] ♪ >>> AS WE EXPAND OUR USE OF THE LANDS AND WATERS OF THIS PLANET, WE MAKE LIFE IMPOSSIBLE FOR MANY SPECIES OF ANIMALS.

EACH YEAR AT LEAST ONE KNOWN SPECIES IS LOST FOREVER.

THIS IS THE STORY OF THE GRAY WHALE, THE ENDANGERERRED SPECIES THAT SURVIVED, A GIANT SYMBOL OF NATURE'S RESILIENCE.

OUR STORY IS SET NOT IN A VAST OCEAN AS IT WOULD BE FOR OTHER WHALES BUT IN A RELATIVELY SHALLOW WATERS LYING JUST OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA.

HERE THE GRAY WHALES PLAY OUT AN ANNUAL CYCLE THAT ENDURED FOR COUNTEDLESS GENERATIONS.

IN THE SUMMER WHEN THE ARCTIC SUN TURNS PORTIONS OF THE BAERING SEAS INTO MERCKY PASTURES OF MARINE ORGANISMS, THE GRAY WHALES FEED.

UNLIKE OTHER WHALES, THE GRAYS ARE PRIMARILY BOTTOM FEEDERS.

THEY APPEAR TO SUCK IN THE TOP LAYER OF SEDIMENTS, EX PEELING MUD AND WATER THROUGH THE FILTER THAT LINES THEIR MOUTH AND SETS OF TEETH.

TRAPPED IN THERE IS THE WHALE'S FOOD, TINY, BOTTOM DWELLING CREATURES LIKE THESE CRUST A CEANS CONSUMED AT THE RATE OF A TON A DAY.

IN THE FALL AS THE ARCTIC SKIES BEGIN TO DARKEN, FOOD PRODUCTION IN THE BEHRINR AND CHUCK DROPS OFF A SIGNAL TO THE FATTENED GRAYS TO START SOUTH.

SWIMMING AT ROUGHLY 5 MILES AN HOUR, THEY FOLLOW THE RUGGED NORTH AMERICAN COASTLINE ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE BREEDING AND CALVING WATERS OFF OF MEXICO'S BAJA PENINSULA.

AFTER A FEW MONTHS WINTERING IN MEXICAN WATERS, THE GRAYS INCLUDING MOTHERS AND NEW CALVES START THE RETURN TRIP BACK TO THE ARCTIC, COMPLETING A JOURNEY THAT SPANS AN AMAZING 10,000 MILES.

THE LONGEST MIGRATION OF ANY MAMMAL ON CHAND LAND OR SEA.

THE TRIP IS NOT WITHOUT ITS PERILS.

TWO PREDATORS HAVE STALKED THE GRAYS SINCE PRE HISTORIC TIMES, PODS OF KILLER WHALES AND MORE SIGNIFICANTLY THE HUMAN HUNTER.

FOR CENTURIES ESKIMOS AND INDIANS HAVE PURSUED THE GRAY WHALES IN ARCTIC WATERS.

WHALING HAS LONG BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE NATIVE CULTURE, PRIMARILY FOR SUB SUBSISTENCE IT NEVER THREATENED THE CURL VIEFL OF GRAY WHALES, BUT COMMERCIAL WAILING CAME TO THE WEST COAST IN THE 1840s, AND THAT WAS A DIFFERENT STAR.

AT FIRST THE WHALE MEN WENT AFTER THE SPERM AND OTHER WHALES THAT GAVE MORE OIL THAN THE GRAYS.

BY THE END OF THE DECADE MANY WORRIED IN THE ARDUOUS PURSUIT OF THESE MA'AM MALLS, SOME CAPTAINS DECIDED TO TAKE A GAMBLE WITH THE PREDICTABLE ANNUAL CYCLE.

ONE SUCH CAPTAIN WAS THE ENTERPRISING CHARLES MELVILLE SCANLON.

IN THE WINTER OF 1857 HE SAILED TO BAJA, CALIFORNIA, WHERE HE SOUGHT A LARGE HIDDEN LAGOON RUMORED TO BE TEEMING WITH GRAY WHALES.

AFTER NUMEROUS MISS HAPPENS, THE CAPTAIN SAILED INTO THE LAGOON AND FOUND THE CALVING WATERS OF THE GREAT WHALE.

NOT ALL OF THE CREW MEMBERS WERE PREPARED FOR WHAT WAS TO FOLLOW.

IN THE WORDS OF THE CAPTAIN "THEY ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL WHALES TO ATTACK, AND MORE CASUALTIES HAVE OCCURRED HUNTING GRAY WHALES THAN ANY OTHER BRANCH OF WHALING.

THE PARENT ANIMAL IN HER FRENZY WILL CHASE THE BOATS, AND OVERTAKING THEM WILL OVER TURN THEM WITH HER HEAD OR DASH THEM IN PIECES WITH THE STROKE OF HER PONDER ROUSE HOOFS.

>> NOW THEY KNEW WHY THEY WERE KNOWN AS THE DEVIL FISH.

TO REDUCE THE DANGERRER THE CAPTAIN SUBSTITUTED VARIOUS EXPLOSIVE WEAPONS FOR THE HANDHELD HARPOON.

THERE AFTER THE LAGOON WHALING VENTURE WENT FAIRLY SMOOTHLY.

[ SAILORS SINGING ] >> THE OIL EXTRACTED SOON FILLED THE HOLES OF SCANLON'S SHIPS.

IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE THE SECRET OF THE GRAY WHALES REFUGE WAS OUT.

DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL SEASONS WHALERS CONVERGED ON SCAMONS LAGOON AND PROCEEDED TO DECIMATE THE GRAY WHALES THERE AND IN THE NEIGHBORING GRAYS AND LAGOONS.

AT THE SAME TIME SHORE WHALERS CONTINUED TO CATCH GRAY WHALES ON MIGRATION.

BY THE TURN OF THE CENTURY THE RELENTLESS ONSLAUGHT HAD TAKEN ITS TOLL.

THE GRAY WHALES HAD ALL BUT DISAPPEARED FROM THE COASTAL WATERS OF NORTH AMERICA.

>>> SINCE HUNTING FOR GRAYS WAS NO LONGER WORTH THE TIME, WHALERS CONCENTRATED ON OTHER SPECIES, AND THE GRAY WHALES MADE THEIR FIRST COMEBACK.

BY THE MID1920s THE HERD REAPPEARED IN SUFFICIENT NUMBERS TO ATTRACT THE ATTENTION OF THE MODERN WHALERS WHO OPERATED FROM ENORMOUS FLOATING FACTORY SHIPS.

THE NAVIGATOR NAVIGATOR WEEING AN, RUSSIAN, AND AMERICAN SHIPS PURSUED GRAYS ALONG THE MIGRATORY ROUTE.

BY 1940 THE GRAY WHALES OF THE PACIFIC WERE ALL BUT ERADICATED FOR A SECOND TIME.

IN FACT, THE GRAY WAS ONE OF SEVERAL SPECIES WHOSE FUTURE WAS IN GRAVE DOUBT.

MORE OUT OF CONCERN FOR THEIR DYING INDUSTRY THAN THE THREATENED ANIMAL, THE WHALING NATIONS BEGAN PROTECTING SOME OF THESE SPECIES.

IN 1946 THEY FINALLY BANNED ALL COMMERCIAL HUNTING OF GRAYS, ONLY LIMITED TAKES FOR SIBERIAN AND ALASKAN NATIVE POPULATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WERE ALLOWED.

WOULD THE GRAY WHALES BOUNCE BACK A SECOND TIME?

>>> USING LAND BASED OBSERVATION POSTS, THE U.S. BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES SET UP A FORMAL GRAY WHALE SENSORS AND MIGRATION STUDY IN 1952.

BIOLOGISTS RAY GILMORE TODAY A LEADING AUTHORITY ON GRAY WHALES WAS PUT IN CHARGE.

>> THERE WERE MANY FEWER WHALES IN THOSE DAYS.

I THINK THAT THE ESTIMATES THAT I MADE WERE QUITE ACCURATE, 3,000 AROUND 1952 AND 1953 1953.

AND THEY WERE INCREASING EVER STEADILY FROM 10 TO 11% PER YEAR.

>> A STUDY SHOWN THE PACIFIC GRAY WHALE WAS RECOVERING AGAIN.

SO STEADY WAS THE POPULATION GROWTH THE INDUSTRY FELT IT WOULD SOON BE TIME TO LIFT THE BAN AND BEGIN A THIRD ROUND OF GRAY WHALE HUNTING.

>>> IN 1959 THE U.S.

FISHERIES BUREAU LAUNCHED A MAJOR RESEARCH EFFORT PRIMARILY TO FIND OUT HOW MANY GRAY WHALES COULD BE TAKEN EACH YEAR WITHOUT ENDANGERERS THE SPECIES.

OVER THE NEXT TEN YEARS 316 GRAY WHALES WERE COLLECTED AND DISECT DISECTED.

THEIR ORGANS EXAMINED, MEASURED AND WEIGHED.

BY 1971 WHEN THE DATA WAS FINALLY COMPILED AND PUBLISHED, TIMES HAD CHANGED.

WHALES WERE FAST BECOMING THE SIM BOLING OF A BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE -- SYMBOL OF A BURGEONING WORLDWIDE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT THEM FROM HUMAN ENCROACHMENT.

THE CONGRESS PASSED FAR REACHING NEW LASSES THAT PROTECTED ENDANGERERRED SPECIES AND RADIO MARINE MA'AM ALWAYS.

AS A RESULT, GRAY WHALES TODAY ARE VULNERABLE ONLY ON THE NORTHERN END OF THEIR MIGRATORY ROUTE.

WHERE RUSSIAN CATCHER BOATS LIE IN WAIT.

THE SOVIET UNION IS ALLOWED ROUGHLY 200 GRAY WHALES EVERY YEAR ON BEHALF OF ITS NATIVE POPULATION.

DESPITE THE ANNUAL SOVIET TAKE, THE GRAY WHALES HAVE THRIVED.

THE POPULATION STABILIZED IN THE EARLY 70s AT ABOUT 15,000 ANIMALS.

THE PRESENT HERD IS PROBABLY SMALLER THAN ITS ORIGINAL SIZE, BUT IT IS LARGE ENOUGH TO HAVE ATTRACTED A NEW BREED OF WHALER, ARMED ONLY WITH BINOCULARS AND CAMERA, THEY FLOCK TO THE PACIFIC SHORES EACH YEAR, THEY SCAN THE WATERS FOR A GLIMPSE OF A VAPOR SPOUT, A HOLING GRAY FORM, OR THE MAJESTIC TAIL THAT MAY APPEAR JUST BEFORE A GRAY TAKES A LONG DEEP DIVE.

SOME PEOPLE TAKE TO THE SEA AND ARE REWARDED WITH EVEN MORE SPECTACULAR SITES, A MAMMOTH HEAD OF A GRAY WHILE SPYING OUT, A BREACHING WHALE HURLING ITS 35-TON BODY OUT OF THE WATER.

>> THE GRAY WHALE HAS VERY DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS WHICH CAN BE RECOGNIZED QUITE EASILY ONCE YOU GET TO KNOW THEM.

THE ANIMAL IS MEDIUM-SIZED AS FAR AS BIG WHALES GO IT WILL RUN ABOUT 45 FEET AT THE MOST, SOMETIMES EVEN UP A LITTLE MORE, PERHAPS TO 50, AND THE COLOR PATTERN IS VERY DISTINCT.

THERE IS A DARKER BLACKISH BACKGROUND AND LIGHT AREAS THAT, KIND OF A MOTTLED OR SPEC HE WILLED LOOK, AND THE COMBINATION MAKES FOR GRAY, AND THE FRONT OF THE HEAD IS OFTEN COVERED WITH BARNCLES SO IT FLASHES BRILLIANTLY WHITE IN THE SUNSHINE.

THE BACK IS DISTINCTIVE IN THE SENSE THAT IT HAS NO DORSAL FIN, A FLESHY REGION, AND ALONG THE TAIL STOCK ARE A SERIES OF EIGHT OR TENOR TWELVE SHORT SHARP BUMPS OR MUSCLES, SO YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THE ANIMAL INSTANTLY IN PROFILE VIEW.

>>> AS IT HAPPENS THEY'RE NOT ALONE ON THEIR MIGRATION INTO THE MEXICAN LAGOONS.

TRAVELING A BRED BIG TOUR BOATS OR OVER LAND ANDNFOUR-WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES, SOME OF THE MORE ZEALOUS WHALE WATCHERS JOIN THE PARADE INTO THE LAGOONS.

NOT ALL THE EARLY GRAY WHALE FANS WERE CONTENT TO SIMPLY WATCH THE WHALES.

SOME LIKE THIS FILM CREW IN THEIR DESIRE TO GET THE BEST FOOTAGE POSSIBLE ACTUALLY HARASSED THE WHALES.

>> VEERING SLIGHTLY RIGHT.

HERE WE GO.

GOING UP, BLOWING UP, BLOWING UP.

>> HE IS COMING OUR WAY.

WATCH OUT.

EVERYBODY HANG ON.

SHE MAY SWING AT US AGAIN.

LOOK OUT.

WATCH OUT.

COMING UP, COMING UP.

THERE SHE IS.

RIGHT SIDE, RIGHT SIDE, WATCH THE TAIL.

ON YOUR LEFT, ON YOUR LEFT.

RIGHT DOWN HERE, RIGHT DOWN HERE, RIGHT HERE.

>> ENCOUNTERS SUCH AS THESE WITH A MADDENED FEMALE AND HER CALF MADE IT CLEAR IT WAS FAR BETTER TO OBSERVE THE ANTICS OF THE CON VORTING WHALE FROM A SAFE DISTANCE.

THEN WITHOUT WARNING WHALE WATCHING TOOK ON A TOTALLY NEW DIMENSION.

>> THERE IS THE BABY.

>> DR. BRUCE KABUL, A VETERAN FROM SAN DIEGO WAS ON HIS FIRST EX CIEWRGS DRIFTING IN A SMALL SKIFF, HE AND HIS COMPANIONS WERE COACHING TWO COWS AND TWO CALVES DIRECTEDLY AHEAD.

>> SUDDENLY THE TWO CALVES TURNED AND STARTED APPROACHING OUR SKIFF AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED, AND IT WAS LIKE BEING TORPEDOED.

PERP SCARED, AND THE DRIVER JUST FROZE, AND THE TWO SMALL WHALE, THE TWO CALVES CAME IN VERY CLOSE, AND RIGHT UNDERNEATH US, AND ONE OF THEM BUMPED THE SKIFF, AND THE SKIFF STARTED TO ROLL BACK AND FORTH, AND WE THOUGHT THIS WAS IT.

THE CALVES KEPT GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER, AND FINALLY ONE OF THEM CAME ALONGSIDE THE SKIFF AND NOS HE WILLED UP AGAINST IT AND STOP ADD LONG SIDE OF US.

WE WERE PETRIFIED.

WE WERE WAITING FOR THE COW TO MOVE IN AND CRUNCH US WITH THE FLUTE, AND I YELLED AT THE LADY IN THE FRONT TO REACH OUT AND SEE IF SHE COULD TOUCH A CALF.

SHE REACHED OVER THE SIDE AND PET TOUCHDOWN, AND IT JUST SAT THERE.

-- PETTED THE CALF, AND IT SAT THERE.

THE OTHER CALF CAME AROUND AND STARTED NUZZLING UP AND IT WOULD ROLL OVER ONES ITS SIDE AND STICK A FLIPPER UP, AND WE WOULD PET IT AROUND THE BELLY AND ON THE LIPS, AND THEY WERE HAVING A BALL AND WOULDN'T MOVE AWAY FROM THE SKIFF AT ALL.

IN MY LINE OF WORK I AM ALWAYS INVOLVED WITHENNERS WITH ANIMALS, AND SOME ARE DOGS WITH WAGGING TAILS AND SOME HAVE TEETH BAIRD, AND TO HAVE AN EXPERIENCE LIKE THIS, ESPECIALLY AS LARGE OF A WHALE, 25 TO 30-TONS OF ANI ARMENIAN MALL APPROACHING YOU LIKE A TORPEDO AND HAVE IT COME AND EXHIBIT SUCH A FRIENDLY BEHAVIOR IN ITS OWN ENVIRONMENT AND BREEDING GROUND TO ME WAS ALMOST LIKE A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE.

>> TO THE ASTONISHED WHALE WATCHERS, IT SEEMED LIKE A MIRACLE.

THE CAPTAIN'S DEVIL FISH HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A FRIENDLY GENTLE GIANT.

THE CURIOUS OR FRIENDLY WHALES ARE THE LAGOON HAVE COME TO DOMINATE THE WHALE WATCHING SCENE DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY ARE LESS THAN 2% OF ALL GRAY WHALES.

>>> MARINE ECOLOGIST SWEEF SCHWARTZ HAS BEEN OBSERVING GRAY WHALE BEHAVIOR IN THE LAGOON.

>> I THINK THE INITIAL A TRACTION OF THE CURIOUS WHALES TO THE BOATS IN THE LAGOON IS PROBABLY THE SOUND OF THE OUT BOARD ENGINE, SOMETHING THEY CAN CHEW ON, SOMETHING THAT IS THERE EVEN IN MURK I WATER.

ONCE THEY GET UP AND FIND SOUND COMING FROM THE BOAT AND NOT JUST THE ENGINE BUT THE SHRIEKS OF OVER JOYED PASSENGERS GETTING THEIR FIRST CLOSE LOOK AT I WHALE, AND SOME OF THE WHALES BEING BOLD NUFF TO COME UP ARE SCRATCHED BY THE PEOPLE IN THE BOAT, AND THAT REINFORCES THE BEHAVIOR.

>> ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS THE WHALES BUMPED SMALL BOATS HARD ENOUGH TO CAUSE MINOR DAMAGE.

THOSE PRESENT WERE CERTAIN NO HARM WAS INTENDED.

THEY INSIST THAT THE EXUBERANT WHALES ARE FRIENDLY CREATURES SEEKING PHYSICAL CONTACT, BUT SOME SCIENTISTS AREN'T ENTIRELY COMFORTABLE WITH THIS TYPE OF EXPLANATION.

>> CALLING THE BEHAVIOR FRIENDLY OF COURSE DESCRIBES TO IT A KIND OF WE BENEVOLENCE THAT MIGHT NOT BE THERE.

IF IT IS A CURIOUS BEHAVIOR IT DESERVE THE TERM CURIOUS RATHER THAN FRIENDLY.

>> HE SEIZE AN OVERWHELMING TEMPTATION TO READ MORE INTO THIS NEW BEHAVIOR THAN MAY ACTUALLY EXIST.

>> IT IS AN A DISTRACTIVE IDEA TO IMAGINE THEY'VE SOCIALLY COMMUNICATED THEIR FORGIVENESS OF MAN FOR THE ABUSES WE HEAPED ON THEM IN BRINGING THEM TO NEAR EXTINCTION TWICE IN HISTORY.

I THINK THERE IS VERY LITTLE EVIDENCE OF THIS.

I THINK INSTEAD IT IS LIKELY THAT THEY HAVE BEEN AROUND LONG ENOUGH THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN THOSE TIMES AND THAT THE NEW GENERATION COMING ALONG HAS NO REASON TO BE SUSPICIOUS OF MEN AND UNTIL THEY DO THIS SORT OF FRIENDLY BEHAVIOR IS LIKELY TO INCREASE IN THE GROWING NUMBER OF YOUNG IN THE POPULATION.

>> WHILE TOURISTS ARE WATCHING AND PLAYING WITH WHALES, RESEARCHERS ARE SAYING ADVANTAGE OF THE COOPERATIVE CURIOUS GRAYS TO CONDUCT EXPERIMENTS THAT NORMALLY WOULD BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.

ONE OF THESE IS A TEST OF A NEW METHOD OF ATTACHING SMALL RADIO TRANSMITTERS TO THE BACKS OF WHALES SO THAT THE ANIMALS CAN BE TRACKED.

THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO DEVELOP A METHOD OF TAGGING OTHER MORE ENDANGERERRED SPECIES WHOSE MIGRATORY ROUTES ARE UNKNOWN.

THE MAJOR RESEARCH EFFORT IN THE MEXICAN LAGOONS HAS BEEN DIRECTED AT LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE BEHAVIOR AND NEEDS OF THE GRAY WHALES THEMSELVES.

WORKING FROM WATCH TOWER AND SKIFF, STEVE SCHWARTZ AND HIS COLLEAGUE MARY LUE JONES HAVE BEEN OBSERVING THE GRAYS OF THE SATURN IG LAGOON IN SIGNIFICANT PERIODS.

>> THEY BEGIN TO ENTER IN SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY EACH YEAR.

AT THAT TIME FEMALES THAT ARE ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH BEGIN GIVING BIRTH, AND WE SEE NEW CALVES EVERY SINGLE DAY.

THE ANIMALS THAT DON'T HAVE CALVES, THE OTHER FEMALES AND MALES AT THIS TIME ARE STILL COURTING AS THEY HAVE ALL THE WAY ALONG THE MIGRATION TO THE LAGOON.

WE SEE A BIT OF COURTING ACTIVITY.

>> WHAT STEVE AND OTHERS HAVE OBSERVED AMONG COURTING AND MATING GRAY WHALES IS THREE IS NOT A CROWD BUT THE NORM.

SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THE THIRD WHALE TO BE A MALE BUT SO FAR NO ONE HAS GOTTEN CLOSE ENOUGH TO A TRIO TO DETERMINE HIS ROLE.

>> PERHAPS FOR THE INGERSOLL TIEWD TO GET AWAY FROM COURTING MAILS AND FEMALES THE COWS AND CALVES MOVE INTO THE UPPER PARTS OF THE LAGOON.

BY THE END OF FEBRUARY THE SINGLE WHALE, THOSE WITHOUT CALVES HAVE BEGUN TO LEAVE THE LAGOON.

>> DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS THE COWS AND CALVES HAVE THE LAGOON TO THEMSELVES.

THE CALVES, 15 FEET LONG AT BIRTH, AND GREEING AT THE RATE OF A FOOT OR MORE A MONTH RECEIVE THE FULL ATTENTION OF THEIR MOTHERS.

>> REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TYPE OF TEACHING THE FEMALE DOES FOR HER CALF, SO THAT IT WILL LEARN, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT THE FIRST THING THE CALF LEARNS IS WHERE ITS MOTHER IS, THIS LARGE BODY AS CLOSE CONNECTION WITH AND RECEIVES ITS FOOD FROM.

AS THE CALF GROWS, THE FEMALE WILL GROUP UP WITH OTHER FEMALES, AND WE SEE GROUPS OF COW CALF PAIRS ROLLING AND BUMPING AND FROLICKING, AND SOME SORT OF SOCIALIZATION IS GOING ON.

>> FROM THE RESEARCH DONE SO FAR, IT IS CLEAR THAT THE DESERT LAGOON SERVE GRAY WHALES IS A SAFE SECLUDED ENVIRONMENT WHERE COWS CAN GIVE BIRTH AND NURTURE THEIR YOUNG, WHERE CALVES CAN DEVELOP SOME INDEPENDENCE, WHERE COURTING MALES AND FEMALES CAN CONGREGATE TO PROP GATE.

>> THE ROLE OF THE LAGOONS AS A MEETING PLACE IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE NEARLY ALL OF THE GRAY WHALES GO THERE, YOUNG AND OLD, MALE AND FEMALE, NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY, ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS MEET AT THEIR OWN TIME SQUARE ON NEW YEAR'S EVE IN THE RIGHT MOOD, AND THAT IS THE PLACE TO DO IT SO THAT BOY MEETS GIRL, VERY, VERY EASILY AND VERY SUCCESSFULLY.

I THINK THE RESILIENCY OF THE GRAY WHALES HAS BEEN DUE TO ENTIRELY SUCCESSFUL UTILIZATION OF THEIR OWN LITTLE NARROW HOME GROUNDS WITHOUT MUCH OR ANY COMPETITION.

THEY'RE THE ONLY ONES, ONLY WHALE THAT IS LIVE IN THOSE LAGOONS IN THE WINTERTIME, AND THEY SEEM TO HAVE PRETTY MUCH THE FEEDING GROUNDS IN THE NORTHWESTERN BERING SEA AND THE ADJACENT SEA ALMOST ENTIRELY TO THEMSELVES, NOT ENTIRELY BUT ALMOST.

IN THEIR OWN LITTLE HOME, THEY'RE SUCCESSFUL.

>> WHAT IF THE SITUATION SHOULD CHANGE?

WHAT IF POME PEOPLE START COMPETING WITH THE WHALE?

IN THE ARCTIC OIL DEVELOPMENT IS BEING CONSIDERED IN AREAS THAT COULD INTERFEAR WITH THE GRAY WHALE'S MOVEMENT TO AND FROM THEIR FEEDING WATERS.

IN THE SOUTH THERE ARE RUMORS THAT LINK THE LAGOONS TO OIL WELLS, MARINAS, AND EVEN A DEEP WATER PORT.

>> THERE IS SOME POINT AT WHICH INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN ACTIVITIES WILL REACH A LEVEL WHERE THE ANIMALS ARE AFFECTED AND THE ENVIRONMENT BECOMES ADVERSE TO THEM AND THEY MOVE OUT AND CEASE TO USE IT.

THESE ARE VERY CRUCIAL BECAUSE THESE ARE THE ONLY BREEDING LAGOONS THEY HAVE.

MEXICO HAS DECLARED THE LAGOONS AS REFUGES FOR THE WHALES, BUT WITH YOU DON'T KNOW HOW PERMANENT THE DECLARATION WILL BE.

>> AT PRESENT SALT PRODUCTION AND COMMERCIAL FISHING ARE THE MAIN INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES WITH GOVERNMENT PERMITS TO OPERATE IN THE MEXICAN LAGOONS.

AT THEIR CURRENT LEVELS THESE PURSUITS DO NOT APPEAR TO BE HINDERING THE WHALES.

EVEN COMMERCIAL WHALE WATCHING TOURS WHICH TOMBLY SEEK OUT THE WHALES HAVE BEEN CLEARED BY SCIENTISTS.

>>> ARE THERE HIDDEN DANGERRERS IN HUMANS BECOMING AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE WHALE'S ENVIRONMENT?

>> OUT HERE YOU SEE WE HAVE A POD OF THREE WHALES.

>> DR. TED WALKER, A NATURALIST WHO LEADS REGULAR TOURS IS GROWING UNEASY ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF A TOO CLOSE ENCOUNTER.

>> I HAVE HAD IN RECENT MONTHS SOME CONCERN OVER THE EVER INCREASING FREQUENCY WITH WHICH WHALES ARE BREACHING NEAR TO OUR OBSERVATIONAL BOATS, AND I THINK THERE IS GOING TO EVENTUALLY BE A SITUATION WHERE THERE IS A DANGERRER THAT A WHALE MAY ACCIDENTALLY FALL INTO AN EXCURSION BOAT AND DAMAGE IT AND THE PEOPLE IN IT.

>> IN SPITE OF SOME OF THE PROBLEMS, WALKER FEELS IT WOULD BE A MISTAKE TO KEEP PEOPLE OUT OF THE LAGOON.

>> I THINK IF WE WERE TO DO THIS I THINK WE WOULD HARM MAN.

MAN WAS EVOLVED FROM THE WILDERNESS AND HE NEEDS TO PERIODICALLY RE-ESTABLISH THAT REALITY WHICH OTHERWISE YOU ONLY READ ABOUT, YOU NEVER REALLY EXPERIENCE.

>> THERE IS FEAR THAT BY REINFORCING FRIENDLY BEHAVIOR WE MAY BE INDUCING THE WHALES TO SHED THEIR NATURAL CAUTION, BUT WHO CAN RESIST THE CALL OF THE WILD?

TO EXCHANGE GREETINGS THROUGH TOUCH AND SOUND WITH A GIANT MAMMAL THAT LIVES IN THE SEA IS AN EXPERIENCE THAT IS UNIQUE, AND FOR MANY MYSTICAL.

>> ONCE WE STILL THE EXPLOSIVE HARPOON OF THE COMMERCIAL WHALE SHIP GRAY WHALES CAME BACK CHANGING BEFORE OUR EYES FROM DEADLY MONSTERS TO CURIOUS, DELIGHTFUL, EVEN GREGARIOUS CREATURES F WE PROTECT THEIR SMALL PORTION OF THIS PLANET WE CAN CONTINUE TO LEARN FROM THESE GIANTS, AND OUR FRAGILE NEW RELATIONSHIP WILL CONTINUE TO FLOURISHED.

THE FUTURE OF THE GRAY WHALES IS IN OUR HANDS.

♪ [ MUSIC ] ♪ .

>>> THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN UNDER WRITTEN BYES?

APPLICATIONS -- BY ES?

APPLICATIONS, THE PACIFIC NETWORK, THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING AND ASHLAND OIL.