Gray Whale
They gray whale is found today only in the Pacific Ocean, and is the only living member of its family, Eschrictiidae.
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Eschrichtiidae
Genus: Eschricthius
Species: E. robustus
Common Names: Gray Whale, Grey Whale, Gray Back Whale, Pacific Gray Whale, Korean Gray Whale, California Gray Whale, Scrag Whale
Gray whales feed mainly on tiny crustaceans that live on the ocean floor. They have a unique method of feeding where they turn sideways and scoop sand from the sea floor, filtering the tiny organisms from the sediment. Due to this, gray whales are one of the most likely baleen whales to be found relatively close to the coast, in shallower waters.
Gray whales undertake long migrations, moving from northern waters to southern waters in the colder months. They can travel nearly 7,000 miles from the cold northern waters to the warmer waters nearer to the Equator.
Pregnancy, or gestation, in gray whales lasts about 13 and a half months. Most females give birth to a single calf, which is about 15 feet in length when it’s born. Gray whales typically give birth in shallow lagoons in order to protect their calves from predators, like sharks and orcas.
The gray whale is named for its coloration, which is dark gray overall with lighter areas and markings over much of their body, which are scars caused by parasitic animals. They also frequently have yellowish or orangish patches around their head and tail, which are the result of whale lice and barnacles.
Gray whales grow up to nearly 50 feet in length. They don’t have a dorsal fin, but they do have several ridges along the back half of their upper body near the tail.
As a baleen whale, the gray whale has distinctive structures in its mouth called baleen instead of teeth. Baleen plates form a comb-like structure, which helps to filter tiny organisms out of the water and sediment that the whale ingests. The water and sediment is then passed through the sides of the mouth, while the animals filtered by the baleen are swallowed.
Gray whales once lived in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but they were driven to extinction in the Atlantic in the 1700s due to whaling.
Gray whales have been historically hunted by humans, including indigenous peoples of Vancouver Island and the Makah people of Washington.
A gray whale is the largest oceanic mammal to be kept in captivity, though it was only held for a short period of time. The gray whale called J.J. was held at SeaWorld in San Diego after she became beached in California. She was kept for 14 months before being released. At the time of her release she was over 30 feet long and weighed nearly 20,000 pounds!
Gray whales are currently a species of Least Concern. Though the Atlantic population became extinct centuries ago, the overall status of the whale’s population is stable. However, the northwest Pacific population is considered Critically Endangered.
Most large scale hunting of gray whales ended after the International Whaling Commission granted them protection in 1949. Currently, the biggest threats to gray whales include climate change, man-made underwater noises, pollution, increased human encroachment on gray whale breeding grounds, and whales becoming tangled in fishing nets.
References
Shirahai, Hadoran & Jarrett, Brett (2006). Whales, Dolphins & Other Marine Mammals of the World. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_whale
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