by Tammy L Mahan

Created on: March 17, 2008

The Grey whale at one time had three populations; the North Atlantic population which sadly is now extinct due to hunting by humans, the North Pacific population is in serious danger of extinction due to hunting.

The one remaining population which is strong and thriving is the Eastern North Pacific which at one time was also in danger of extinction and has now returned to what scientists believe was its original population of 20,000 grey whales.

The whale belongs to the family of whales known as baleens

DESCRIPTION

The Grey Whale is a dark gray with spots of a lighter shade of gray and white spots. It has a "slender" well proportioned body in place of the dorsal fin it has a dorsal hump. The whale's fluke is rather large measuring between twelve and fifteen feet wide.

The adult male is between forty-five and forty-eight feet long and weights between thirty and forty tons.

The adult female is slightly longer in length up to fifty feet in length and also weight between thirty and forty tons.

A baby gray whale (known as a calf) weights between one thousand and fifteen hundred pounds at birth and measures up to fifteen feet in length at birth.

DIET

The gray whales diet consists of; crustaceans (shrimp, crabs, lobster, and crayfish.) They swim to the sea floor and scoop up their food using their baleen plates trapping the food to be eaten or swallowed whole.

REPRODUCTION

Mating occurs in the lagoons in Baja, California (these lagoons are protected for mating and birthing) due to the once decline in the gray whales population.
The female has one calf at a time and it will nurse for eight months. The females generally give birth every two years.

Depending on the time of year the calves are born the whales may stay an additional few months in the lagoons to allow time for calves to grow and gather extra fat for the migration north.

The mother gray whales and the claves swim along the coastline on their journey back to the Bering and Chuchi seas. The trip takes an average of two and half months give or take a few weeks.

The females are very protective of their calf and have been given the nick name "Devilfish" because of the very violent behavior their show when they feel threatened.

MIGRATION

The gray whales migrate every year between Baja, California and Bering and Chuchi Seas the trip is about six thousand miles one way and they travel at four to six miles an hour. Taking them two to three months to get there.

Scientists are not sure why this migration takes place however if your in California it's a beautiful site to see all the gray whales heading north.

Sources
www.bluewhale.com
www.acsonline.com
www.m arinelife.org

Learn more about this author, Tammy L Mahan.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.