Gray whales have their own taxonomic family, genus, and species. They are the most coastal of the baleen whales and are often found within a few miles of shore. Each year gray whales migrate between their summer feeding grounds in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas to their winter breeding grounds off Baja California, Mexico. This is one of the longest migrations by a mammal species. Rorqual whales are relatively streamlined in appearance and have pointed heads and small pointed fins.
Baleen whales are some of the largest animals on earth.
Characteristic baleen plates and paired blowholes help distinguish baleen whales from toothed whales. All cetaceans have a long, strong diaphragm which allows them to rapidly exhale as they surface and quickly inhale before submerging. Early humans hunted whales for food and oil. The whalebone was used to make women's corsets, buggy whips, and umbrella ribs. Most baleen whale species remain severly depleated because of this commercial whaling.