All of my fellow passengers seemed confused as the boat neared the 1 mile mark and no one had seen the Gray Whales. As I glanced back at the skipper with an unsure look, he smiled reassuringly and said, "Not to worry everyone, there are two, and they only just dove. They can be under from 3-5 minutes." Suddenly about 100 meters away they finally broke the surface. They were huge!

Gray Whale:
A.K.A., California Gray Whale, Devilfish, Mussel-Digger, Scrag Whale
-Baleen Whale (no teeth), long thick bristles that filter food from silt on the ocean's floor.

Literal Translation:
Eschrichtius- "Refers to a nineteenth-century Danish zoology professor."
robustus- for "oaken" or "strong."

Size and Weight:
Maximum length: 14.1 m (45 ft)
Maximum weight: 15-35 tons

Diet:
As a Baleen Whale, Grays eat mostly Krill (small shrimp) and small crustaceans and worms.

The Gray Whale has been known for years as one of the friendliest whales in the pacific. It is not uncommon for a Gray to come right up to a boat and allow itself to be patted. What the Gray Whales are commonly know for, is their annual migration, one of the longest known for any mammal. They are found in Arctic feeding grounds April to November, and in the Mexican breeding grounds, December to April. They migrate south from October to February and north from February to July.

While Chris was speaking to us the two Grays dove. It had been a couple of minutes since then and we were all wondering where they would pop up again. While everyone was looking around I put the camera cap back on to protect the lense. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the Grays break the surface 20 feet away! Figures, Murphy's Law strikes again! Here goes the struggle to get the lense cap off again in time for a good shot....

When you look at a Gray Whale it is hard to miss the discolouration and scratches on their skin. How do they get them? Mostly from their eating habits. They are messy eaters! No, really, they go to the ocean floor and forage in the mud and detritus of the bottom. This easily brings on the scratches and abrasions, and they actually end up with barnacles in select places of their body. Another of the more fascinating facts about Grays is that they are considered mostly bottom feeders. They have been know to feed above bottom as well. A truly unique characteristic of one of the few ancient species of whales, the Gray.

Well, we are coming to the end of our trip. What an amazing time. Oh well, we still had the trip back. Chris was starting the engines and beginning to move away when we saw the finale. A picture perfect vertical dive with some low cloud in the distance.

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