They also assisted Gary Stonely with the welding, cutting, polishing and painting of the metal parts. Our former administrator, the late John Davis was instrumental in promoting the project. Since that time they have increased to the level that some claim they could again support a commercial whaling industry. Indeed, an annual hunt by aboriginal whalers from the Olympic Penninsula and Western Vancouver Island has already been proposed. The whales pass off the coast of Vancouver Island in the spring and fall on an 8000 mile journey from their calving grounds in Baja California to rich feeding areas in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska.
Gray whales are baleen whales.
The baleen is displayed here with the two different sides exposed. The inside of the mouth would have the fine hair-covered surface, and viewing the whale from the outside, you would see the thick baleen plates. The whale goes onto one side and scoops up mud into the side of it's open mouth. When the mouth is closed and the throat pouch pushes up, the muddy water is squeezed out through the baleen which acts as a filter, screening out small crustaceans and other bottom-dwelling organisms. The particles filtered are then licked off by a large tongue and swallowed.