Gray+Whale+2010



By: Caroline S. The Gray Whale reaches a length of about 52 ft., and a weight of 36 tons. Gray Whales can live up to 50-60 years of age. This mammal is dark slate-gray color and covered in characteristic gray-white patterns. It is also covered in scars left by parasites, which drop off in the cold feeding grounds.

The Gray Whale lives in the eastern North Pacific (America’s side,) but the population in the western North Pacific is critically endangered. Also they live in the Atlantic Ocean, and sometimes live in lagoons.

The Gray Whale mainly feeds on crustaceans. They eat the crustaceans on their right side, usually it ends in the result of loss of eye sight in the right eye (adults.) Their baleen or whalebone helps them capture small sea animals including amphipods. The whale mostly feeds in the northern waters during the summer.

The breeding process is complex and often involves three or more animals. The whale’s gestation is about one year. They have calves every other year.

The Gray Whale is in danger because of humans hunting and eating them. The Orca and humans are the only predators of the male Gray Whale. Gray Whales have been killed all over the world by humans.

We can save the whales by preventing hunting of the Gray Whale. Today the population of California Gray Whales has grown back to about 26,000 whales. The Western Pacific seas near Korea, Japan, and Kamchatka have decreased down to an estimated 101 whales. Although the Gray Whale has become a “least concern,” in the northwest Pacific Gray Whales are “Critically Endangered.” As you can see we need to protect the Gray Whale.