Grey Whales: An adult male gray whale can grow to 14.6 m in length. Females
are slightly larger. Both males and females weigh up to 30,000 kg. The main
component of their diet is small, shrimp-like animals called amphipods that live
on muddy ocean floors. Gray whales also eat tubeworms, mysids (another
shrimp-like animal), small fish, and herring eggs. Gray whales may visit our
waters during their annual migration from Mexico to Alaska.
Type: baleen
Length: up to 45 feet
Color: mottled gray,
Features/Markings: encrusted with series of bumps and barnacles and whale lice, which may be anywhere from white to
yellowish-orange in color
Food: feeds on bottom dwelling organisms, shrimp-like crustaceans, molluscs, small squid and polychaete worms
Endangered? yes, Western Pacific down to 100-200; no Eastern Pacific around 21,000; Atlantic=extinct
Fast Facts:
* Annual migration is one of the best defined and longest of all whale species. Eastern Pacific migration(7,500-12,500 miles).
* Extremely inquisitive, sometimes approaching boats and often spy-hopping to observe above-surface activity.
* Only whale species to feed on bottom-dwelling organisms by using its baleen as a sieve through mud and sand.