Description

The Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) is a medium-sized baleen whale and the only surviving member of its family, Eschrichtiidae. It has a mottled gray body, often covered with barnacles and whale lice, giving it a rugged appearance. Adults reach up to 15 meters in length and can weigh as much as 40 tons.

Unlike most large whales that migrate across open oceans, the Gray Whale is a coastal traveler. Each year, it completes one of the longest migrations of any mammal — traveling up to 20,000 km round-trip between its breeding lagoons in Baja California, Mexico, and feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas.

Eschrichtius robustus feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates, such as amphipods, which it filters from muddy seafloor sediments using baleen plates. It rolls on its side and uses suction feeding, leaving long furrows in the sea floor — a distinctive ecological signature.

Historically, a separate Atlantic population existed but was wiped out by human hunting in the 17th–18th centuries. The surviving Eastern Pacific population rebounded after whaling bans and now numbers around 20,000 individuals, though threats such as ship strikes, entanglement, and climate-driven prey decline persist.