California Grey Whale / Gray Whale

A California Gray whale cannot go to sleep like we do.  They have to THINK about breathing.  If they went to sleep the same way we do they would drown.  Instead they sleep floating on the surface of the ocean. They shut down only 1/2 of their brain at a time.  The California Grey whale is also called a Pacific Gray whale. The California Gray Whale is called a filter feeder or a baleen whale. I took this snap shot while on a whale watching tour in San Diego aboard the Hornblower whale watching tour yacht.. 

The baleen serves a very important purpose.

The Pacific Gray Whale / California Gray Whale sucks in large amounts of mud, and water then closes its mouth part way and pushes the water and mud back out through the baleen.  The baleen traps the food like shrimp and fish. The Gray whale then uses its tongue to get the food out of the baleen and swallows the food.

Another major difference between the two types of whale is that the baleen whale s have two blow holes instead of just one like the tooth whales have.

There are 10 species of Baleen whales:

1. Blue Whale, which can be 100 feet long

2. Fin Whale

3. Sei Whale

4. Bryde's Whale

5. Bowhead Whale

6. Right Whale

7. Pygmy Right Whale which can be 18 to 20 feet long

8. Humpback Whale

9. Minke Whale

10. Gray Whale