Mottled grey skin with scarring and pigmentation. The majority of the body is covered with barnacles and whale lice.

No dorsal fin, only a small hump followed by a series of ‘knuckles’ 2/3 of the way back from the head.

Low and bushy blow, up to 3-4 metres in height, often ‘heart’ or 'mushroom' shaped.

Tail flukes have convex trailing edges with a deep notch in the middle.

Unlike other baleen whales, grey whales are bottom feeders and use their coarse baleen to strain out small invertebrates (amphibods, ghost shrimp, crab larvae) from the soft muddy bottom in shallow areas, leaving mouth-sized depressions in the sediment. Grey whales also feed on herring eggs and larvae in eelgrass beds during the spring and summer months.

Grey whales are not highly social and only come together the breeding season and during parts of the migration.

Grey whales are found in inshore, shallow areas ranging from the coast of Washington and British Columbia up to the high arctic in the Beaufort Sea.

In the spring, grey whales leave the winter breeding grounds in Mexico and migrate north towards Alaska, usually staying within a few kilometres of shore and passing through B.C. waters. A small population of approximately one hundred animals known as “summer resident” grey whales or the “Pacific Coast Feeding Aggregation” remains in the inshore waters of Washington and British Columbia during the summer instead of continuing the migration to Alaska.

Often confused with humpback whales: humpback whales are primarily black and have a knubby dorsal fin, whereas grey whales are mottled in colour and lack a dorsal fin. Humpbacks also have much longer flippers and a broader head with numerous tubercles.

Grey whales occur in two distinct populations in the North Pacific. The western grey whale population is restricted to the coasts of China, Korea, Japan and Russia and has been hunted almost to extinction; there are estimated to be fewer than 100 animals in this critically endangered population. The eastern grey whale population was also extensively hunted during the 19th and 20th centuries, but since being protected has rebounded to around 18,000 to 24,000 animals.

The eastern population of grey whales ranges from breeding lagoons in Baja California, Mexico, to summer feeding grounds in the Bering, Chuckchi and Beaufort Seas. In the spring, grey whales leave the winter breeding grounds in Mexico and migrate north towards Alaska, usually staying within a few kilometres of shore and passing through B.C. waters.

The grey whale migration is one of the longest of any mammal (up to 15,000 – 20,000 km round trip).

A small population of approximately one hundred animals known as “summer resident” grey whales or the “Pacific Coast Feeding Aggregation” remains in the inshore waters of Washington and British Columbia during the summer instead of continuing the migration to Alaska.

Calves are born in Mexico during the winter months and are typically up to 5 metres long and weigh about 900 kg at birth. Mothers and calves have a strong bond for the first few months, and mothers often stroke their calf with their flippers and fiercely protect them from attacking killer whales on their migration route. Calves wean at around 8-10 months.

Grey whales may reach puberty around 6-12 years, and continue growing up to about 40 years. The lifespan is unknown, but whaling data suggest they may live well over 80 years.