A coastal migrant, not an open-ocean whale
Gray whales travel along the coast rather than far offshore. That’s why nearly every US record sits right at the surface near shore, from Alaska down through Washington, Oregon, and California, with occasional stragglers recorded as far as North Carolina. Records rise sharply through January, February, and March, when the migration brings whales closest to land. They decline steadily through the rest of the year.
A bottom feeder among giants
Most large whales filter plankton from open water, but the gray whale feeds differently. It rolls onto its side and stirs up sediment from the sea floor, straining out small invertebrates and fish such as Pacific herring and Dungeness crab. That bottom-feeding habit is part of why gray whales favor shallow coastal water over the deep open ocean most other big whales prefer.
Predators at both ends of the migration
Orcas and Pacific sleeper sharks are the recorded predators of gray whales, typically targeting calves or weakened individuals rather than healthy adults. Coastal migration routes concentrate whales in predictable places, and that cuts both ways. It’s easier for predators to find them, but also easier for researchers and whale watchers to track the same individuals year after year.
A calf every couple of years
Gray whales reach maturity around age eight, carry a pregnancy for roughly 13 months, and typically raise one calf at a time rather than twins. A female usually calves only once every two years, spacing out the enormous energy cost of nursing a calf that size. Wild individuals have been recorded living past 75.
Conservation
The IUCN lists the gray whale as Least Concern. The eastern Pacific population that migrates along the US coast has recovered substantially from historical whaling. Its close ties to the shoreline do expose it to noise, ship traffic, and coastal development in a way many other whales aren’t.
