CaliforniaGrayWhales

PhysicalCharacteristicsandAppearance

Whenfullygrownthegraywhalecangrowtolengthsofover50ft.long,
howevertheiraveragesizeiscloserto4448ft.long.Aswithother
baleen
whalesthefemalegraywhalesusuallygrowslightlylargerthantheirmale
counterparts.Intermsofweightthese
marine
mammalscanmeasureinatupto
40tonswhenfullydeveloped.
Thegraywhaleisadarkgrayishslatecolorwithwhitepatchescoveringits
body,henceitsname.Inmanycasesthesemarinemammalsmayalsobe
coveredin
parasites
andotherorganismscausingtheirskintolookdiscoloredand
givingthegraywhaletheappearanceofcrustyoceanrock.
Inordertostaywarmincoldwaters,thegraywhalehasathicklayerof
insulated
blubber
whichmeasureupto10inchesthick.Comparedtomostother
baleenwhales,theirbaleenbristlesarefairlyshort.Also,insteadofhavinga
dorsalfinlikeotherspeciesofwhale,thegraywhalehasasmall
dorsal
hump
locateddownthefarendofitsback.
Swimmingisassistedbytheuseoffanlike
flukes
whichthewhalemoves
upanddowntopropelitselfthroughthewater.Aswithother
cetaceans
thegray
whalealsohasapairofflipperstohelpitsteerandturnwhenswimming.
Becausethesewhalesbelongtothebaleenwhalesubordertheypossessbaleen
plateswithbristlesattachedtothemwhichtheyusetofiltertheirpreyfromthe
water.
HabitatandMigration

Graywhalesareoftenfoundswimmingintheeasternnorthpacificocean
andnearKoreainthewesternnorthpacificocean,howeverrecentspottingsin
areassuchastheMediterraneanseasuggeststhatthesemarinemammalsmay
beginrepopulatingareasthatmayhavebecomeabandonedduetoprevious
whalingactivities.
EveryOctobersmallgroupsofgraywhalesmakelongmigrationtripsfrom
theirfeedinggroundsintheBeringandChukchiseasandmigratetotheBaja
peninsulaofMexicoandthesouthernGulfofCaliforniawheretheymateandbare
theiroffspring.

Duringmigrationtripsasmanyas20,000graywhalescanbeseen
swimmingintheocean.The
migrationtrip
takesanaverageof23monthsto
completeandisconsideredtobeoneofthelongestmigrationstripsofany
animallasting9,00016,000miles,althoughitseemsthatonaveragetheir
migrationtripsarecloserto8,00010,000miles.
Duringthesetrips,thegraywhaleswilltravelnightanddaymovingatan
averagespeedof5mphorlessuntiltheyreachtheirdestination.Oncethey
arriveattheirmatinggroundstheywillbegincourtingotherwhalesandthose
thatarepregnantwillbegingivingbirthtotheiryoung.When
matingseason
ends,theybegintheirjourneybacktotheeasternnorthandwesternnorth
PacificOceantofeed,relaxandpreparefortheirnextmatingseason.
DiagramofaGrayWhale