Coastal Resource Information System

Grey Whale

This species is seasonally common in British Columbia, as approximately 22,000+ individual whales travel between the wintering grounds off California and Mexico and the breeding grounds in the Bearing and Chukchi Seas. The population is increasing. Northward migration through BC begins in February, peaks in late March, and ends in April. Southward migration occurs during November through January, with the peak of movement occurring in late December. The west coast of Vancouver Island represents the northern limit of the range for approximately 35-50 individuals. Further, some of these animals may remain in this area year round. During the northward migration, the Eastern Pacific population travels along the entire west coast of Vancouver Island north of Port San Juan from 100 m to 4 km from shore. Some individuals are also observed along the coastline to the southeast of Port San Juan. Migration beyond 4 km offshore has not been studied intensively, but is generally more typical of the southward migration period than the northward one. Many grey Whales spend time feeding and resting along the BC coast. At that time, grey Whales feed on benthic crustaceans, herring spawn and plankton. Virtually the entire coast of Vancouver Island from Port San Juan to Cape Scott is used by grey Whales for feeding. Traditionally, grey Whales were believed to forage on benthic organisms in areas of muddy bottoms. However, recent discoveries indicate that Grey Whales forage extensively on plankton in nearshore areas. Typical feeding groups consist of 1-8 animals. In productive feeding areas, groups of up to 20 animals may be observed (Darling, 1984; J. Darling, pers. comm.; Rice, 1986).

The Grey Whale is one of the most active of all large whales. It travels from its northern feeding ground in the Beaufort, Bearing and Chukchi seas to its southern breeding grounds in Baja California and off the Korean coast, a round trip distance of 19,500 km. The Grey Whale is a Baleen whale. Its mouth has small hairs along the upper jaw and small baleen plates on each side. It is the only baleen bottom feeder, it filters its food through the baleen plates, from the clouds of mud that it stirs up from the seabed.