Photo Credit: Craig Hayslip, OSU Marine Mamma Institute
The gray whale is a baleen whale that can reach lengths of 40 to 50 feet, weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and can live up to approximately 80 years. They do not have a dorsal fin, only a dorsal ridge that looks like knuckles on its back. Gray whale bodies are covered with rough patches of white that are made up of organisms like whale lice and barnacles. Their pectoral fins are relatively small and paddle-shaped, and their upper jaw extends past their lower jaw. Their upper jaw has comb-like baleen that they use to filter their prey either from the water or bottom sediments. Most gray whales migrate from the Arctic, where they feed, to lagoons in Baja, Mexico, where they give birth to their young. There is a small group known as the Pacific Coast Feeding Group that spend their summers feeding in Pacific Northwest waters, very close to shore.
Gray whales feed on a wide variety of food. Those that spend their summers in Oregon waters often feed on zooplankton close to the shoreline or along the edges of rocky reefs. They will also consume schools of fish and invertebrates in bottom sediments.
Limiting factors
Gray whales in Oregon waters face a number of threats, such as entanglement in fishing gear, being struck by vessels, and being disturbed by vessel traffic. These threats can limit their feeding, reproductive success, increase stress hormones, and endanger their lives when entangled in gear or struck by a vessel. Gray whales consume millions of plastic particles per day. They need adequate concentrated prey sources.
Data gaps
• Environmental factors that drive distribution in Oregon waters during the feeding season .
• Vulnerability to impacts from plastic contaminants.
Conservation actions
• Vessels should travel slowly in areas that gray whales feed, to avoid colliding with them.
• Vessels should not approach gray whales closely so as not to disturb them or cause stress.
• Causes of entanglement with fishing gear and the locations where they occur are not well understood, so following regulations for marking fishing gear will help our understanding of where and when entanglements occur.
• Reduce plastic pollution that makes its way into marine waters.
