Habitat
Gray whales live at the surface of the ocean near the coastline but dive to the bottom to feed.
Diet
Gray whales are bottom feeders. They sift through the mud on the bottom of the ocean floor of the Arctic with their baleen. They filter out krill, plankton, and mollusks (including squid and fish) from the ocean sand. They usually feed on their right side, sucking up mouthfuls of mud filled with food. Their baleen filters out the food (mostly krill), and the whale spits out the mud. During migration and while in the warm breeding waters (about 3-5 months), gray whales eat very little. They live off of their thick layer of blubber (fat).
Movement
Gray whales are very good swimmers. Gray whales can dive for up to 30 minutes and go 500 feet deep. They can swim in even shallow water without running onto land.
They also breach, jumping part of the way out of the water and falling back in, splashing and making a loud noise. This may help clean off some of the parasites (barnacles and whale lice) or in communicating with other gray whales.
Spyhopping is another gray whale activity in which the whale pokes its head up to 10 feet out of the water, turning around slowly, to take a look around.
They also breach, jumping part of the way out of the water and falling back in, splashing and making a loud noise. This may help clean off some of the parasites (barnacles and whale lice) or in communicating with other gray whales.
Spyhopping is another gray whale activity in which the whale pokes its head up to 10 feet out of the water, turning around slowly, to take a look around.
Description
Gray whales grow to be 45-50 feet long, and weigh about 36 tons. Females are larger than males, as with all baleen whales. The gray whale's skin is usually gray with some white spots and has many parasites, including hundreds of pounds of barnacles and whale lice. The gray whale has two broad flippers, no dorsal fin, and small ridges along its back near the flukes (tail.)
Enemies
Killer whales (orcas), large sharks, and humans are the gray whales' only natural predators. Skin parasites (including barnacles and whale lice) attach themselves to the head area, back, and blowhole area also.