Mud Grabs and Fecal Plumes

To describe the availability and use of prey to gray whales, GAP analyzed both mud grabs and fecal plumes collected during gray whale surveys in 2008 and 2010. A 0.1-m² van Veen grab was used to collect benthic and epibenthic invertebrates at 14 sites, eight of which were previously sampled in 2002 (see Moore et al. 2007 [PDF]). Whenever they were encountered, we sampled the mud plumes and fecal clouds associated with feeding whales to determine what prey the whales were specifically feeding on.

Mud grabs from sampling sites showed high densities of adult cumaceans, a result that agreed with the results from 2002. Prey remains from mud plumes and fecal clouds were also dominated by cumaceans.

Cumacean.

Click map to see larger version.