California Gray Whale Behavior

• What is a California Gray Whale | Migration | Feeding | Whaling | Behavior | Calving
  

  Spouting

  

  Spouting is the visible exhaling by the whale of air, water vapor, and water drops. Sometimes called a blow.

  Breaching

  

  Breaching is when the whale leaps almost clear of the water and falls back with a splash.

  Sounding

  

  Sounding – When a whale sounds it will show it’s flukes. The flukes are the whales tail.

  Spyhopping

  

  Spyhopping is the whale pushing itself vertically upward out of the water until it can see. A spyhop can last from 15 to 30 seconds.

Additional references for the Gray Whale

Monterey Bay Whale Watch
Whale Blowing Audio

Original Authors (June 1992)

Lisa Angle – Richard Asplund – Peter Ostrander
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, California 93407

Additional Updates and Maintenance

Revised in HTML (January 1995) – Java (July 1995)
Richard Asplund
San Luis Obispo County Office of Education
San Luis Obispo, California 93405

Converted to WordPress (November 2017)
Martin Williams
San Luis Obispo County Office of Education
San Luis Obispo, California 93405