Gray Whale
Sub Class                    Family

                                        Mysticetes           Eschrichtius robustus
Habitat: Summertime spent in Alaskan waters feeding as far north as the Bering and Chukchi Seas.   A six thousand mile trip to the birthing grounds in Baja Mexico to mate and bear young. Six to twelve inches of blubber becomes their energy reserve on the long trip south.
Description: Females are larger than males and grow to 40 tons and  about 48 feet in length.  Calves average 15 feet at birth and weigh about 1500 pounds. Slate gray in color, white pigmentation and m any barnacles and scars. Instead of dorsal fin there is only 6 to 12 knuckles or lumps along the backbone.  Tail flukes are made of connective tissue and cartilage, approximately 10 to 12 feet across, weighing up to 400 pounds.  Flippers can reach 6 feet in length.  The bones in the flippers resemble human hands. 

                g-20.jpg (28170 bytes)     Mother and newborn in the birthing bay

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Knobby lumps on baby whale back

 

 
Vocalization: Very low tones and frequencies to communicate with each other and find food in the darkness
Feeding: Bottom feeders that prey upon amphipods (small bottom dwelling creatures) rolling onto one side sucking up huge amounts of sediment. The tongue then squeezes the water and silt out through their baleen (broomlike hair instead of teeth) leaving the food. 

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                           Baby Gray Whale                                                          Mother shows her love

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Mother whale is belly up pushing her baby to the surface for pets.  Her whitish pectoral fin at upper left is holding the baby steady.

 

g-15.jpg (30038 bytes)   A well barnacled head and a two chambered blow hole

 

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Baby gray whale already with barnacle scars enjoying the affection of Amber.

Young ones reaching out to touch each other! See the "whale print" made by her mother to the left of the baby. Mother had nudged the baby over to our little boat then pushed it up out of the water.  Everyone was so excited that all six of us flew to the right side of the boat to pet the baby.  Immediately I saw my extra camera lens rolling as the panga shifted precariously to the right.  The next thing I saw was the mother whale's head on the left side of the boat and her tail on the right side, holding us steady.  I was so moved I could not speak.  Manuel, our compassionate singing captain reached out his hand and whispered, "Buena Ballena"  or Good Whale in Spanish.

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The mother came up to his hand for a tender thank you and then returned to her blissed out baby. I asked him if he had ever seen such a thing happen, he nodded,"No way, but I have never had guests on my boat before that sang to the whales. I have never touched a whale before either...I think they like the singing

                                                                            

 

 

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Bottlenosed Dolphins, the self declared Gray Whale nannies like to follow pregnant females, most likely using their sonar to keep tabs on the labor.   When the females go into labor they become almost motionless on the top of the water like floating waterlogged trees. Perhaps the dolphins use their sonar abilities to help stimulate slow deliveries.  This would allow for successful population growth.

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Author's note:  Being able to touch these animals was a most blessed experience.  To hold the trust of the gentle mother whale as she encouraged her baby to socialize with the singing humans cannot be described in words. Then when she nudged up to the side our our boat to be rubbed, she was so careful not to bump our fragile craft.  As she drifted a few feet from us, she discovered me at the bow, having been a little too far up to reach her skin.  She held her head out of the water and in that vertical position scooted over to touch me. Her skin felt a little like a wet inner tube and the barnacles were shell like. She loved being scratched. Over the years, in many of the books I have read about whales it has been stated that the Gray whale had a reputation with the whaling fleets of old as being devil fish.  If a baby or pod-mate was captured or harpooned it was quite common for the female to ram the whaling boat in retaliation. There was never a mistake made about which boat fired the fatal harpoon, the mother whale would mercilessly overturn it if she could or continue to ram it until she herself was dead.         g-301.jpg (22041 bytes)

She spyhopped right back over to me for some affection
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