Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus)

Description: Gray whales are a species of baleen whale that migrates in the spring and the winter along the Oregon coast. They’re most often seen in Cannon Beach during mid-March to mid-April and again during mid-December to mid-January. These whales are typically solitary, but during these migration periods one may see a mother-calf pair. Adult gray whales can be up to 15 meters (almost 50 feet) long and weigh about 90,000 pounds! Gray whale calves are usually about 4.5 meters (15 feet) long at birth and weigh about 2,000 pounds (that’s a big baby!).

Habitat: Along the Pacific Coast of North America, gray whales are found in the Bering Sea during their summer feeding season and near Baja California during their winter breeding and calving season. Gray whales are also found in other parts of the Pacific Ocean along the eastern coastline of Asia. 

Diet: Instead of teeth, gray whales have many plates of keratin (the same substance as human fingernails) in their mouth. These plates, known as baleen plates, look sort of like a mustache or a comb. Each plate has little bristles on it that catch plankton as gray whales draw in and push out seawater through their mouths to feed. 

Tide Pool Tidbits:

• Round-trip gray whale migrations total a distance of 1500-2000 kilometers (about 930-1240 miles)!

• Like other marine mammals, gray whales need to breathe air. Whales breathe through nostrils on top of their heads called blowholes. Gray whales have paired blowholes, so when they blow water into the air it is usually a heart- or V-shaped spray.

• Another way to recognize gray whales aside from their V-shaped blowhole sprays is by their flukes (AKA the ends of their tails). Gray whale flukes have deep notches and pointed tips. 

• Gray whale mothers give birth every 2-3 years, and their calves must surface and breathe within their first 15 seconds of life.

References: Central Coast Biodiversity, The Whale’s Tail, NOAA Fisheries