GRAY  WHALES  101

Gray Whale Blue Print

CLASS : Mammals  SUB-ORDER : Mysticeti  ( baleen whale )                         SPECIES : Gray Whale ( Eschrictius robustus )

WHALE  LICE

COLOR : Mottled light to dark Gray LENGTH : up to 45 ft WEIGHT : up to 40 tons

PECTORAL FLIPPERS : 2  ( used for steering ) TEETH : 0  ( has baleen ) DORSAL  FIN : 0 ( has  ridges or bumps  , somes times called kunckles )

FOOD : amphipods  ( shrimp like ) , mollusks , tube worms , fish and squid . PARASITES : lice ( yellow in color )  barnacles ( white in color ) These type of parasites are only found on the Gray Whale .

The Gray Whale has an average speed of around 5 mph (approx) with a maximum speed of 10 mph . Killer Whales ( orcas ) have an estimated top speed of 40 mph .

Gray Whales have a gestation period of 13 months and believe to be on a 2yr  reproductive cycle and reach sexual maturity at around 5yrs old .

GOT  MILK  ? ?

Newborn Gray Whales nurse for up to 7 months on their mother`s milk , which has a very high fat content of around 53% ( cows milk 4% , humans 2% )

The babies grow rapidly and can reach a length of 28 ft in their first year . At birth the babies are about 12 -15 ft long and weigh 1500 -2000 lbs and can gain weight at nearly 100 lbs a day

Gray Whales can live to be 60 yrs old . The oldest recorded Gray whale was 77 yrs old.

Unlike man , whales have to think about breathing , therefore they cannot sleep the same way we do , they would drown .

Whales sleep by floating on the surface of the water and shutting down only half their brain at one time .

Would like to hear what sounds a Gray whale makes ? If so, please click here Would you like to hear a Gray Whale breathing ? If so, please click here

Note : To hear these sounds you will have to have either RealPlayer or Windows Media installed on your computer.

The Gray Whale is a medium size baleen whale . A filter feeder . It dives to the bottom of the ocean and sucks up mud and water , which it then filters through it`s baleen plates.

The baleen plates trap the small bottom dwelling creatures that live in the mud .

This is usually not seen , as they only feed occasionally during the migration . A Gray whale can lose up to 1/3 of it's body weight during the migration.

There are 2 groups of Gray Whales , the North Eastern and the North western Pacific .

There was a third group . These lived in the north Atlantic Ocean , but they have been extinct since the 19 th century , due to whaling

Today the western group is near extinction (less than 250) due to heavy whaling. These can be found in and around the South China Sea

The eastern group ( 26,600 estimated ) is the group we see migrating up and down the west coast of the United States .

Going from their summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi seas , to their mating and birthing grounds in the calm lagoons of Baja .

However there is a small number of eastern Pacific Gray Whales that do not migrate , these live year-round in the coastal waters off  Vancouver Island and Washington .

Also off the Farallon Islands near San Francisco .

Other names for the Pacific Gray Whales are : California Gray , Mexican Gray , Mussel Digger , Devilfish .

Note : The Gray Whale population figure of 26,600 was issued by the National Marine Fisheries in the spring of 1999 .