MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE, 00(0): 1–13 (2012) C  2012 by the Society for Marine Mammalogy and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2012.00572.x New insights into the northward migration route of gray whales between Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska JOHN K. B. FORD, 1 Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, British Columbia V9T 6N7, Canada; JOHN W. DURBAN, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Ocean and Atmospheric Association, La Jolla, California 92037, U.S.A.; GRAEME M. ELLIS, JARED R. TOWERS, JAMES F. PILKINGTON, Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, British Columbia V9T 6N7, Canada; LANCE G. BARRETT - LENNARD, Vancouver Aquarium, PO Box 3232, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 3X8, Canada; RUSSEL D. ANDREWS, University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences and the Alaska SeaLife Center, PO Box 1329, Seward, Alaska 99664, U.S.A. ABSTRACT The route taken by northward migrating gray whales during spring between Vancouver Island and southeastern Alaska, a distance of about 575 km, has long been uncertain. It is generally believed that the whales closely follow the western, outer coastline of Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands), an archipelago lying between Vancouver Island and southeastern Alaska, consistent with their pattern of migrating close to shore over the majority of their northward migratory corridor. By tracking satellite-tagged individuals and surveying whales from shore bases, we provide evidence that this is not the primary migratory corridor, but instead that most whales migrate through Hecate Strait and Dixon Entrance, broad waterways that lie to the east and north of Haida Gwaii. By using this route, northbound gray whales potentially face a wider range of industrial activities and developments than they would by migrating along the outer coast. Key words: Eschrichtius robustus, gray whale, migratory corridor, satellite tagging, telemetry, shore survey. Each year, the majority of the eastern North Pacific population of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) undertakes long seasonal migrations between summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and winter breeding grounds in Baja California. The corridor used by migrating gray whales along the mainland west coast of North America between Baja California and Vancouver Island has been well described (Scammon 1874, Rice and Wolman 1971, Darling 1984, Herzing and Mate 1984, Poole 1984, Rugh et al. 2001, Mate and Urb´ an-Ramirez 2003). However, the route taken by migrants between Vancouver Island and the Bering Sea was for many 1 Corresponding author (e-mail: john.k.ford@dfo-mpo.gc.ca). 1