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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
gray whale |
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| ORDER: |
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| FAMILY: |
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| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Eschrichtius robustus |
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| GESTATION: |
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| ESTRAL
PERIOD |
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| NURSING
DURATION |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
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| MALE |
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| FEMALE |
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| 1. |
The gray whale is the only living member of the baleen whale family Eschrichtiidae. The gray whale differs from the other two baleen whale families primarily in its feeding behavior – it is a bottom feeder. |
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| 2. |
California gray whales inhabit the eastern North Pacific Ocean. They spend summers in the icy waters of the Bering and Chukchi seas, off Alaska. As the ice pack advances in the fall, gray whales embark on one of the longest known migrations of any mammal. Hugging the North American coastline, the whales swim south more than 9,000 km (5,600 mi.) to Baja California, Mexico. |
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| 3. |
Female gray whales average 14.1 m (46 ft.) and may weigh almost 32,000 kg (70,000 lb.) . Male gray whales are generally smaller than females, averaging 13 m (43 ft.). |
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Gray whales are predominantly bottom feeders and forage along the ocean floor. Turning on its side, a gray whale gulps great mouthfuls of silt, strains out water and mud through its baleen, and swallows bottom-dwelling invertebrates. |
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| 5. |
Females give birth to 4.9 m (16 ft.) calves in the warm, shallow lagoons of Baja. While in the lagoons, some gray whales are unusually receptive to the attentions of human who travel to the lagoons to see them.Females give birth to 4.9 m (16 ft.) calves in the warm, shallow lagoons of Baja. While in the lagoons, some gray whales are unusually receptive to the attentions of human who travel to the lagoons to see them. |
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During the 19th and early 20th centuries, whalers hunted gray whales to the brink of extinction – twice. Legally protected since 1946, gray whales have made an astonishing comeback. The current population is about 24,000 individuals, a figure believed to match or exceed pre-whaling numbers. In 1994 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) removed the California gray whale from the Endangered Species List. |
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