Males are slightly smaller. At birth calves are approximately 15 feet long. Gray whales spend the summer in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. Gray whales, like other baleen whales, migrate to warmer waters during the winter months. During this annual migration, a gray whale can travel as far as 6,000 miles each way.
Pregnant females travel to the lagoons to give birth and raise the calf.
The lagoons are protected from the open ocean - currents and predators. Others may travel to warmer waters or to find mates. Scientists have found that not all whales travel to the lagoons during the winter. Some may travel a portion of the way, some may not at all. Gray whales are benthic feeders.