### animal | vertebrate | mammal | whale:

Gray whale
* Most gray whales have barnacles
  - years
* Some gray whales arrive in local waters early while others leave late.
* Some gray whales have grooves
  - throat grooves
* Some gray whales start feeding when they reach the waters along Vancouver Island, British Columbia
* are a protected species
  - among the most easily observed of west coast whales
* are baleen whales, which are generally larger than toothed whales
  - benthic feeders
* are bottom feeders and eat mollusks and other marine invertebrates
  - ingest the garbage that settles to the bottom
  - bottom-feeders, meaning they sift through sand to get their food
  - hairy, and blue whales can turn their tongues inside out while eating
  - mammals
  - predominantly bottom feeders and forage along the ocean floor
  - quite mellow in their southern calving grounds
  - sensitive to noise and human disturbance
  - specialized for feeding on bottom-dwelling mollusks
  - still the most frequently sighted baleen whale
  - the only bottom feeding baleen whales
  - unique in that they prefer prey that live near or on the sea floor
  - very agile swimmers
* carry whale lice and parasitic barnacles that look like crabs.
* do die of natural causes and are sometimes preyed upon by killer whales.
* eat invertebrates found on and in the ocean floor
  - primarily amphipod crustaceans
  - very little while on migration
* face other threats, as well.
* feed along the ocean floor
  - differently from other whales
* feed on both benthic and pelagic invertebrates
  - bottom-dwelling creatures in the Bering Sea
  - the bottom, filtering small benthos out of the sediments
  - primarily on the ocean's bottom, feeding on benthic creatures
* filter their food through coarse baleen plates.
* grunt while rooting about on the sea floor.
* have a dorsal hump followed by a series of bumps
  - long and narrow shape and are a medium gray colour marbled with lighter patches
  - narrow head with a slight curve to the jawline
  - lots of barnacles and lice on their skin
  - one of the longest migrations of any mammal
* have the longest migration of any mammal
  - route of any mammal
  - their own taxonomic family, genus, and species
* inhabit near-shore coastal waters and therefore are vulnerable to human activity
  - the eastern North Pacific Ocean
* live closer to land and humans than any other kind of whale
  - in shallow waters feeding primarily on bottom-living organisms such as amphipods
* make the longest cetacean migration
  - migration of all whales, or cetaceans, in the world
  - seasonal migration of any of the whales
* mate one year and give birth the next.
* migrate back to their Bering Sea feeding grounds
  - past Southern California during the winter
  - through the off-shore waters
  - to breeding areas in Mexico
* obtain most of their food during the summer months in the Arctic.
* pass by twice each year on their migratory cycle.
* possess a distinctive mottled coloration.
* range as far north as the Arctic Ocean above Alaska.
* reach sexual maturity at eight or nine years.
* require some minimum prey biomass density for efficient foraging.
* scoop up big mouthfuls of sand and sift it through their baleen teeth.
* spend the summer feeding in the rich waters of the Bering Sea, near Alaska.
* stir up bottom sediments and feed on benthic crustaceans.
* tend to calve every other year.
* undertake the longest annual migration of any mammal.
* use suction to draw food into their mouths
  - the lagoon annually to give birth to their young
* visit the area during their migrations, some are summer long residents.
+ Gray Whale, Description
  * Compared to most baleen whales, gray whales are rather small, growing to be only about 45 feet long. They are easy to see with their gray  color, which is actually more charcoal black than it is gray. Gray whales have lots of barnacles and lice on their skin. However, scientists say the lice and barnacles do not harm the whale, and it is possible they may actually 'help' the whale by feeding off of dead skin, which the whale needs to get rid of
  - Whale: Baleen whales
  * The gray whale migrates from cold waters to the tropics each year in pods. Gray whales are very agile swimmers. Gray whales make grunts, clicks, and whistling sounds which may be used to communicate with other gray whales