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Old 06-17-2009, 09:17 AM
 
Location: Central Coast, California
169 posts, read 761,822 times
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Have you all seen them?? It is truly spectacular. I could see them from the highway, pulled over and was just in awe. They were really close to shore too, maybe 300 feet.
What kind are they? I didn't see them last year at this time.
I'd love to learn about them.
Any help would be most appreciated.
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Old 06-17-2009, 09:49 AM
 
572 posts, read 2,478,063 times
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Go on a whale watching trip someday you will learn alot just from that trip. I think those are grey whales migrating north for the summer.
From http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/graywhl.htm (broken link)
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Gray whales have a streamlined body, with a narrow, tapered head. The upper jaw is arched in profile, and slightly overlaps the lower jaw. The rostrum (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#rostrum - broken link) (upper jaw) is dimpled and each of the little depressions contains one stiff hair. There are 2-5 grooves on the ventral (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#ventral - broken link) throat 5 feet (1.5 m) in length.

COLOR: The gray whale received its name from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. On the skin are many scratches, scattered patches of white barnacles, and orange whale lice (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#whalelice - broken link). Newborn calves are dark gray to black, although some may have distinctive white markings.

http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/images/GrayWhaleSurfaceChar-sm.jpg (broken link)
surface characteristics FINS AND FLUKE: The gray whale has no dorsal (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#dorsal - broken link) (top) fin. About [SIZE=-1]2/3[/SIZE] of the way back on its body is a prominent dorsal (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#dorsal - broken link) hump followed by a series of 6-12 knuckles along the dorsal (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#dorsal - broken link) ridge that extend to the flukes (tail lobes). Its flippers (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#flippers - broken link) are paddle shaped and pointed at the tips. Its fluke (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#flukes - broken link) is about 10-12 feet (3.7 m) across, pointed at the tips, and deeply notched in the center.

Length and Weight: Adult males measure 45-46 feet (13.7-14 m) and adult females measure slightly more. Both sexes weigh 30-40 tons (27,200-36,300 kg).

Feeding: Gray whales feed on small crustaceans (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#crustacean - broken link) such as amphipods, and tube worms found in bottom sediments. They feed primarily during the summer months of long daylight hours in the cold Arctic waters of the Bering and Chukchi seas. As a baleen whale (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#baleen - broken link), it has a series of 130-180 fringed overlapping plates hanging from each side of the upper jaw, where teeth might otherwise be located. These plates consist of a fingernail-like material called keratin that frays out into fine hairs on the ends inside the mouth next to the tongue. The plates are off-white and about 2-10 inches (5-25 cm) in length. To feed, a whale dives to the bottom, rolls on its side and draws bottom sediments and water into its mouth. As it closes its mouth, water and sediments are expelled through the baleen (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#baleen - broken link) plates, which trap the food on the inside near the tongue to be swallowed.

Mating and Breeding: Gray whales reach sexual maturity at 5-11 years of age, or when they reach 36-39 feet (11-12 m) in length. Gestation is 12-13 months. The calf weighs 1,100-1,500 pounds (500-680 kg) and is about 15 feet (4.5 m) at birth. Calves nurse 7-8 months on milk that is 53% fat (human milk is 2% fat). Females bear a single calf, at intervals of 2 or more years. Courtship and mating behavior are complex, and frequently involve 3 or more whales of mixed sexes. Mating and calving both occur primarily in the lagoons of Baja California, Mexico, although both have been observed during the migration.

http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/images/GrayWhaleRangeMap-xsm.gif (broken link) range map Distribution and Migration: Gray whales inhabit shallow coastal waters of the eastern North Pacific. The gray whale makes one of the longest of all mammalian migrations, averaging 10,000-14,000 miles (16,000-22,530 km) round trip. In October, the whales begin to leave their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and head south for their mating and calving lagoons in Baja California, Mexico. The southward journey takes 2-3 months. The whales remain in the lagoons for 2-3 months, allowing the calves to build up a thick layer of blubber (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/glossary.html#blubber - broken link) to sustain them during the northward migration and keep them warm in the colder waters. The return trip north takes another 2-3 months. Mothers and calves travel very near shore on the northbound migration. There are some individual gray whales that are found year round in the Straits of Juan de Fuca between the State of Washington and Vancouver Island, Canada, and some that are seen during the summer months off the northern California coast.

Natural History: A migrating gray whale has a predictable breathing pattern, generally blowing 3-5 times in 15-30 second intervals before raising its fluke and submerging for 3-5 minutes. A gray whale can stay submerged up to 15 minutes, and travel at 3-6 miles per hour (4.8-9.6 km/hr). Mothers are very protective of their calves, and earned the name "Devilfish" from early whalers in the lagoons because of their violent defensive behaviors. Orcas (killer whales) (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/KillerWhale.htm - broken link) are a cause of gray whale deaths, and many gray whales have orca teeth scars on their flukes.

Status: At one time there were three gray whale populations: a north Atlantic population, now extinct, possibly the victims of over-hunting; a Korean or western north Pacific stock now very depleted, also possibly from over-hunting; and the eastern north Pacific population, the largest surviving population. Hunted to the edge of extinction in the 1850's after the discovery of the calving lagoons, and again in the early 1900's with the introduction of floating factories, the gray whale was given partial protection in 1937 and full protection in 1947 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Since that time the eastern north Pacific gray whale population has made a remarkable recovery and now numbers between 19,000 and 23,000, probably close to their original population size.


(http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/graywhl.htm - broken link)
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Old 06-17-2009, 11:46 AM
 
Location: The High Seas
7,373 posts, read 15,934,199 times
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Haven't seen them off the coast in a while. Walmart, all the time, but not out in the ocean.
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Old 06-17-2009, 03:17 PM
 
Location: Living on the Coast in Oxnard CA
16,289 posts, read 32,186,268 times
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Welcome to California. Guess we are blessed living on the coast. From time to time the Whales will migrate closer or further away from the coast. Guess it depends where the food is. From what i have heard we may be having an El Nino season this year and that may bring them in closer. Not sure how that works or if that theory holds water. (Did I spell El Nino right?) Anyway it is cool to see the whales.
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Old 07-02-2009, 11:52 AM
 
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Default Pismo Whales

We saw several whales within a few 100 yards of the Pismo Pier yesterday. There was plenty of playfulness including fluke slapping and even some breaching. We have seen whales here before in November but not in the summer. What a treat!
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Old 12-01-2010, 10:56 PM
 
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Default Whales at Pismo Beach, CA

I guess the whales have been hanging around the last couple of days. Watched them this morning, trying to figure out what species. I don't think they're gray whales ~ I don't think they're that large. I've seen gray whales up around Bodega Bay, and I'm fairly certain these are different. Does anyone know? There are lots of dolphins out there with the whales, too.
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Old 12-01-2010, 11:10 PM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
8,174 posts, read 16,562,313 times
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Yeah, I think this is the time of year for their southern migration. We saw a whole schools of them traveling south last year from Point Lobos just south of Carmel. I haven't really been out to look for them yet this year. But thanks for the tip!!!

Here is a shot I took last year of them further out which actually got published in the Point Lobos Magazine:





Derek
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Old 12-02-2010, 12:41 PM
 
Location: California
11,466 posts, read 19,286,936 times
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I was at Pismo a few monthes ago, I watched a Seal riding the waves alongside the surfers and we saw Dolphins jumping, it was a great time.
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Old 12-16-2010, 08:49 AM
 
2 posts, read 12,347 times
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Nice photo! From here, they look like the same whales! But then again, "from here" I'm about a half mile from the beach, looking at a photo. Since posting, I've done some research, and everyone seems to thing they must have been gray whales. Haven't seen them since, so they must have just stopped at Pismo Beach for a few days to play during their migration south.
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