Every year, along the coasts of California and Canada's West Coast province of British Columbia, an estimated 20,000 eastern Pacific Grey Whales make an epic migration from Mexico into the northern seas beyond Alaska. It's a trek that many of us are familiar with. What we are not so familiar with are the lives of about 200 so-called "resident" members of the species who spend every summer feeding near Vancouver Island. Now, researchers, partially funded by the Canadian Government and the University of BritishColumbia, have just released a study that points to this small-in-numbers pod as a potential harbinger of how sea life may be able to survive the effects of climate change. Canadian marine biologist Jim Darling is familiar with this group of whales, having studied them for 30 years and most recently was involved in a study of the pod's genetics. Mr. Darling'sprimary studies include long term investigations of behaviour and ecology of gray whales in British Columbia and humpback whales throughout the North Pacific. He is currently a researcher with the Pacific Wildlife Foundation in Canada and Whale Trust in Hawaii and he speaks with The Link's Carmel Kilkenny. ( AP Photo/Guillermo Arias )