(KUCB/Alexandra Gutierrez)

Whale-watching is usually a late summer pastime in Unalaska, but this year’s icy weather has turned it into a spring activity, too.

Humpbacks have definitely been spotted in Unalaska Bay, and other species could be stopping in soon. Right now, gray whales are making their way back to Alaska after mating in California. Their usual route takes them through Unimak Pass, across the Bering Sea, and up into their Arctic feeding grounds.

But record-setting sea ice could be stopping them from completing that journey according to biologist Wayne Perryman.

“I’ll bet that there are gray whales lined up against that ice just trying to get farther north to feed,” says Perryman, who works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “So you could see animals that have tried to make a move north, have run into ice, and are just poking around looking for a snack somewhere.”

That poses a problem for pregnant females. The whales have already been fasting for four or five months before making it to Alaska waters. Perryman says that the amount of food the whales eat has a connection to, in human terms, whether they “miscarry” or not, which might cause them to stop to snack in the Aleutians.

“In a year like this, when those pregnant females are up there, they have got to be fat girls if they’re going to be successful,” says Perryman.

Most gray whales are expected to make their way near Unimak Pass in early June.