Grey Whale

Description: The grey whale is a baleen whale, reaching nearly 50 feet in length, and a maximum weight of around 39 tons. The whale's skin is predominantly grey, but the color for which it is named is augmented by the presence of barnacles growing on its skin, and the lighter colored scars that each whale accumulates from scraping against rocks, occasional collisions with boats, and clashes with predators, including man. Around two thirds of the whale's length back from its head is a dorsal hump, followed by a series of dorsal knuckles that continue almost to the tail.

The grey whale's baleen is the shortest of any whale, specialized for sifting through mud and sand. Grey whales breath through a pair of dorsal blowholes, which are simply nostrils set at the highest point on the whale's head. The grey whale's spout has been described as heart-shaped; from the side it appears more or less round in calm weather, but high winds can alter the spray pattern. A thick layer of subcutaneous blubber insulates the whale in cold waters, and provides sustenance during migration.

Habitat: Grey whales inhabit temperate, coastal waters. They frequent muddy shorelines, protected bays, and the areas along the edges of reefs. Estuaries and areas adjacent to heavy runoff produce higher nutrient loads, and therefore a higher concentration of the tiny animals that the whales eat, so coastlines near such areas are more likely to have grey whales. Rough, stormy seas may bring the whales closer to the shore as they stir up sand and mud along the coast; on the north coast of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, grey whales have been seen swimming perhaps as little as thirty or forty yards from shore during stormy weather.

Distribution: Grey whales were once found in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, but the Atlantic population was wiped out some time in the 1700s by whaling. Today the whales are found from the Bering and Chukchi Seas to the Gulf of California in the eastern Pacific and the Sea of Japan in the west. Most grey whales are migratory, giving birth in southern waters in the winter, and traveling north to feed. In recent years, some of the whales have taken up permanent residence in the Puget Sound, the Georgia Strait, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca along the Washington/British Columbia border. The western Pacific population is extremely depleted, but the well-protected eastern Pacific population is near its original size prior to commercial whaling.

Behavior: Grey whales feed on amphipods and other sediment-dwelling creatures along the coastline; a whale typically scoops a mouthful of sand or mud from the bottom, then forces the water and sediment out of its mouth, filtering out its prey with its baleen and swallowing it. Grey whales also feed in open water, similarly to other baleen whales, although their shorter baleen is better-suited to bottom feeding.

The whales mate in the winter and give birth around a year later; grey whale calves weigh up to 1,500 pounds at birth. The calves nurse for seven or eight months on their mothers' milk, which is over 50% fat (human milk is around 2%); the milk is thick and does not diffuse quickly in the water, ensuring that the calves receive as much of it as possible.

Grey whales breach, particularly when they are in groups; scientists have theorized that breaching may be a form of communication between the whales, or an expression of dominance, in which the most powerful whale makes the biggest splash. Breaching consumes a great deal of energy, amounting to as much as 1% of the whale's daily caloric intake, leading many scientists to believe that it is a serious business, but it may also be a form of play.

The migration of the eastern Pacific grey whale is thought to be the longest of any animal on Earth; some whales travel over 12,000 miles every year, from the Bering Sea to the Gulf of California. Whales eat very little during migration, if at all, and may lose as much as two thirds of their body weight during the journey. This may be an important factor that has led some whales to stop migrating, taking up year-round residence in the waters around Washington and British Columbia.

Grey whales have three predators: besides human beings, only orcas (Orcinus orca) and great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharius) are known to hunt them. Young whales are the most common targets; female grey whales aggressively defend their calves, but the more agile sharks and orcas may be at an advantage. Sharks typically bite away chunks of flesh, and a whale may survive an encounter with a single shark, but if several sharks are in the area, they may consume all but the bones. Orcas use a different tactic, attacking the whale for hours, repeatedly pushing it under the water until it is too tired to resurface and it drowns. Shark and orca attacks are not common; most sharks prefer prey smaller than themselves, and only a few populations of orcas hunt whales.

Human Impact: The world's whales have been decimated by commercial whaling, and the grey whale is no exception. The Atlantic population was completely wiped out in the 1700s, and the Pacific populations have been pushed to near extinction. Whales in the western Atlantic are still under great threat from Japanese and Russian whaling fleets, and the eastern population, while recovering well, remains vulnerable to pollution and tribal whaling.

In 1986, the International Whaling Commission placed a moratorium on commercial whaling, which must be observed by all of its member countries, however provisions are in place for aboriginal subsistence whaling and killing whales for scientific study.

Under the subsistence whaling exemption, Russians in the Chukchi region are allowed to kill 140 grey whales per year. Investigations in the 1970s and 1980s uncovered that the whales were not being utilized on a subsistence level, but were instead being used as animal feed on fur farms; a growth in the number of whales taken per year directly coincided with the advent of fur farming in the area, and while the Russian government denied that whale meat was being misappropriated, they eventually conceded to the truth.

Japan has used the scientific exemption to successfully hunt whales in the Antarctic; because the exemption requires that the meat be fully used, whaling outfits are free to sell whale meat to markets and restaurants at a profit, so long as a minimal amount of research is conducted on the animals after they are killed. While Japan's modern whaling activities have been limited to southern seas, they have continually petitioned the IWC to expand their operations. Conservationists have gone to great lengths to persuade the Japanese government to cease its so-called scientific whaling, but the international outcry has fallen mostly on deaf ears in Japan. One government official even went so far as to say that people only wanted to protect whales because they thought they were cute, demonstrating an utter misunderstanding of the aim and purpose of conservation efforts. The conservation activist group, Greenpeace, has made numerous attempts at influencing the Japanese government to halt its whaling program, even taking measures as extreme as dumping a dead fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) on the doorstep of the Japanese embassy in Berlin, Germany. The whale, which had died of natural causes, provided proof that whales do not need to be killed for scientific study when whales that have died naturally are available.

The Makah tribe in Washington state are allowed to kill four whales per year under the subsistence exception, but interference from the courts and anti-whaling organizations like the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has limited their total kill to a single whale in 1999. Sea Shepherd activists have been assaulted by tribal police and by tribe members in their port town of Neah Bay. The Makah claim that whaling is a part of their cultural heritage, but the whale was killed with a .50-caliber rifle in the place of traditional whaling implements, and the tribe was unable to process the whale without hiring outside help. Another claim made by the Makah is that traditional foods like whale meat contribute to the health of indigenous people, whose levels of obesity and diabetes have risen dramatically since they stopped whaling in the 1920s. The problem with this argument is that modern whale meat typically contains high levels of mercury and other heavy metals, making it dangerous to eat, and when the Makah did kill their first whale in over 70 years, much of the animal was wasted, due to the bitter taste of grey whale meat. The Makah are far from unified in the desire to reinstitute whaling out of Neah Bay; many tribe members and even some elders are against the practice, but the debate has become a political hot point, and remains more or less deadlocked. In the midst of the debate, a group of five Makah whalers killed a whale illegally in September 2007, in an act condemned by the tribe and the general public. This time, none of the traditions of the Makah whale hunt were observed; the men used motorboats and a high-powered rifle, and the whale, a favorite individual of local whale-watchers, took all day to die. The US Coast Guard dragged to carcass out to sea to be consumed by scavengers.

The philosophical and politically-charged debate surrounding whaling is often reduced to the cultural heritage argument, in which the group that wishes to continue or expand its whaling operations uses its whaling history as a justification, however it must be noted that the IWC nations that have been most vocal against whaling, like Great Britain and the United States, also have long whaling histories. For these nations, their cultural heritage has been preserved without killing more whales.

A spyhopping grey whale; Gerald and Buff Corsi; © California Academy of Sciences

Grey whales sift through giant mouthfuls of sand and mud along inshore waters to find amphipods.

An aerial view of a grey whale clearly shows how the animals got their common name.

A grey whale displays its short baleen.

The grey whale's tail, or fluke, is like its fingerprint; each whale has a unique set of markings and scars.

The characteristic spray from a grey whale's blowhole - side view

A grey whale breaching; the purpose of breaching is not known, but it may be a form of play.

A grey whale calf is attacked by orcas (Orcinus orca); the calf will be drowned; © Jeff Poklen

Washington's Makah tribe gathers around a whale killed with a .50-caliber rifle; the tribe hired a professional to butcher the whale, and much of the meat was discarded. A group of Makah men illegally killed another whale in 2007.

Greenpeace delivered this fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) carcass to the doorstep of the Japanese embassy in Berlin as a statement against Japanese whaling.