Editing Gray whale (section)

===Integration and recolonization===
[[File:Gray whale calf by Marc Webber USFWS.jpg|thumb|Calf with mouth open showing baleen, Alaska]]
Several whales seen off Sakhalin and on [[Kamchatka Peninsula]] have been confirmed to migrate towards eastern side of Pacific and join the larger eastern population. In January 2011, a gray whale that had been tagged in the western population was tracked as far east as the eastern population range off the coast of British Columbia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Western Pacific Gray Whale, Sakhalin Island 2010|date=February 2011|url=http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/Sakhalin2010|publisher=Oregon State University, Marine Mammal Institute|access-date=2011-02-25|archive-date=2013-03-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325022649/http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/Sakhalin2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Recent findings from either stranded or entangled specimens indicate that the original western population have become functionally extinct, and possibly all the whales that have appeared on Japanese and Chinese coasts in modern times are vagrants or re-colonizers from the eastern population.<ref name=SC65bBRG12>{{cite report|author=Kato H.|author2=Kishiro T.|author3=Nishiwaki S.|author4=Nakamura G.|author5=Bando T.|author6=Yasunaga G.|author7=Sakamoto T. |author8=Miyashita T.|year=2014| title=Status Report of Conservation and Researches on the Western North Pacific Gray Whales in Japan, May 2013 – April 2014 [document SC/65b/BRG12]|url=https://archive.iwc.int/pages/download.php?ref=4801&size=&ext=pdf&k=&alternative=-1&usage=-1&usagecomment=|access-date=2021-08-21}}</ref><ref name=2011insights />

In mid-1980, there were three gray whale sightings in the eastern [[Beaufort Sea]], placing them {{convert|585|km|mi|sp=us}} further east than their known range at the time.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Gray Whale (''Eschrichtius robustus'') Sightings in Eastern Beaufort Sea |doi=10.14430/arctic2521|author1=Rugh, David J.  |author2=Fraker, Mark A. |journal=Arctic |volume=34|issue=2|date=June 1981 |url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic34-2-186.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422023641/http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic34-2-186.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-22 |url-status=live |access-date=2010-07-15 }}</ref> Recent increases in sightings are confirmed in Arctic areas of the historic range for Atlantic stocks, most notably on several locations in the [[Laptev Sea]] including the [[New Siberian Islands]] in the [[East Siberian Sea]],<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Shpak V.O. |author2=Kuznetsova M.D. |author3=Rozhnov V.V. | year = 2013 | title = Observation of the Gray Whale (''Eschrichtius robustus'') in the Laptev Sea | journal = Biology Bulletin | volume = 40 | issue = 9 | pages = 797–800 | doi = 10.1134/S1062359013090100|bibcode=2013BioBu..40..797S |s2cid=18169458 }}</ref> and around the marine mammal sanctuary<ref>Nefedova T., Gavrilo M., Gorshkov S. (2013). [http://www.rgo.ru/ru/article/letom-v-arktike-stalo-menshe-lda Летом в Арктике стало меньше льда] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524004126/http://www.rgo.ru/ru/article/letom-v-arktike-stalo-menshe-lda |date=2014-05-24 }}. Russian Geographical Society. retrieved on 24-05-2014</ref> of the [[Franz Josef Land]],<ref>Elwen H.S., Gridley T. (2013). [http://www.namibiandolphinproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Elwen-Gridley_Gray-whale-in-Namibia-20130610.pdf Gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus'') sighting in Namibia (SE Atlantic) – first record for Southern Hemisphere]. Mammal Research Institute, the [[University of Pretoria]] and the Namibian Dolphin Project. retrieved on 18-05-2014</ref> indicating possible earlier pioneers of re-colonizations. These whales were darker in body color than those whales seen in Sea of Okhotsk.<ref name=Olga2011/> In May 2010, a gray whale was sighted off the Mediterranean shore of Israel.<ref>{{cite web |author=צפריר רינת 08.05.2010 16:47 עודכן ב: 16:50 |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1167822.html |title=לווייתן אפור נצפה בפעם הראשונה מול חופי ישראל – מדע וסביבה – הארץ |publisher=Haaretz.co.il |access-date=2012-06-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511063628/http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1167822.html |archive-date=2010-05-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It has been speculated that this whale crossed from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the [[Northwest Passage]], since an alternative route around [[Cape Horn]] would not be contiguous to the whale's established territory. There has been gradual melting and recession of Arctic sea ice with extreme loss in 2007 rendering the Northwest Passage "fully navigable".<ref name="esa">{{cite web
| url=http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMYTC13J6F_index_0.html
| title=Satellites witness lowest Arctic ice coverage in history|work=European Space Agency 
| access-date=2007-09-14}}</ref> The same whale was sighted again on May 30, 2010, off the coast of [[Barcelona]], Spain.<ref name="June Spotting">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8729000/8729064.stm|title=Mystery gray whale sighted again off Spain coast|last=Walker|first=Matt|date=30 May 2010|work=BBC News|access-date=8 June 2010}}</ref>

In May 2013, a gray whale was sighted off [[Walvis Bay]], Namibia. Scientists from the Namibian Dolphin Project confirmed the whale's identity and thus provides the only sighting of this species in the Southern Hemisphere. Photographic identification suggests that this is a different individual than the one spotted in the Mediterranean in 2010. As of July 2013, the Namibian whale was still being seen regularly.<ref>[http://namibiandolphinproject.blogspot.ch/2013/05/a-rare-and-mysterious-visitor-in-walvis.html Namibian Dolphin Project: A rare and mysterious visitor in Walvis Bay]. Namibiandolphinproject.blogspot.ch (2013-05-14). Retrieved on 2013-07-28.</ref>

In March 2021, a gray whale was sighted near [[Rabat]], the capital of [[Morocco]].<ref name=
SOS-D /> In April, additional sightings were made off [[Algeria]]<ref name=ObservationORG/> and [[Italy]].<ref name=Italy24>{{Cite web|url=https://www.italy24news.com/News/19045.html|title=Ponza, a gray whale sighted for the first time in Italy|date=April 15, 2021|website=Italy24 News English}}</ref>

In December 2023, a gray whale was sighted off [[Sunny Isles Beach, Florida]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/2023/12/21/gray-whale-florida-miami-migration-how-identify-unusual-fwc/71997055007/ |title=Gray whale spotted off Florida coast. Here's why the sighting is so unusual |date=2023-12-21 |newspaper=The Palm Beach Post |last1=McCloud |first1=Cheryl |last2=Crowley |first2=Kinsey |access-date=2023-12-21}}</ref>

Genetic analysis of fossil and prefossil gray whale remains in the Atlantic Ocean suggests several waves of dispersal from the Pacific to the Atlantic related to successive periods of climactic warming – during the [[Pleistocene]] before the last glacial period and the early [[Holocene]] immediately following the opening of the [[Bering Strait]]. This information and the recent sightings of Pacific gray whales in the Atlantic, suggest that another range expansion to the Atlantic may be starting.<ref name=Alter/>