What is the State Marine mammal of California?

What is the State Marine mammal of California?

The Gray Whale is the State Marine mammal of California. It is also known as grey whale, Pacific gray whale, gray back whale, or California gray whale. The Gray Whale was titled as California’s official state Marine mammal in 1975. Eschrichtius robustus is the scientific name of The Gray Whale. There are two Pacific Ocean populations are known to exist, which one is still larger in populations are found along the Pacific coast of North America from Baja California to the Chukchi and Bering seas, while the other the small populations are living in the Western Pacific from the Sea of Okhotsk to South Korea. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF CALIFORNIA has designated the Gray whale as the official state marine mammal of California on August 24, 1975 found in the California Government Code, Title 1, Division 2, Chapter

The State Marine mammal of California facts—

  • Common name:  The Whale; Gray whale; as grey whale, Pacific gray whale, gray back whale, or California gray whale.
  • Scientific name:  Eschrichtius robustus
    Length: The adult or fully matured gray whales can be 43-49 ft long, while newborns are16 ft in length. Females are larger than males.
  • Weight:  Adults can weigh up to 40 tons, but they habitually range between 15 and 33 tons.
  • Color:  The color of the Gray whales are name like, light to dark gray with a dappled appearance, and bits of gray-white scars left by whale lice. The baleen is off-white, cream or blond.
  • Diet:  The Gray whales are known as filter feeders, if not known as mysticetes. They fill their mouth with sediment before forcing the sediment through the baleens when dive down toward the bottom, with trap a large number of crustaceans, notably amphipods, ghost shrimp, polychaete worms and herring eggs.
  • Reproduction:  The female gray whale give birth single calf after a gestation period of 13½ months in winter.
  • Gestation period:  12-14 months; females give birth every 3 to 6 years
  • Lifespan:  60 – 70 years

State Marine mammal of California The Gray Whale, The Gray whales are migratory and pass through the longest distances amongst mammals, occasionally it may up to 12,675 miles. The migration season starts in October for the Eastern Pacific population and ends around April with returning to the northern waters. Gray whales also perform breaching, in which they jump out of the water into the air, before displaying back down again on their side or back. The breathing patterns of the Gray whales are quite conventional, exhaling 3-5 times from their blowhole at intervals of 15-30 seconds. They raise their tail flukes above the surface of the water before a dive and can stay submerged for up to 15 minutes
State Marine mammal of California, the Gray whales, as they belongs to the baleen whale suborder they possess baleen plates with bristles attached to them which they use to filter their prey from the water. Like as other cetaceans the gray whale also has a pair of flippers to help it steer and turn when swimming. Also, instead of having a dorsal fin like other species of whale, the gray whale has a small dorsal hump located down the far end of its back. Swimming is assisted by the use of fan like flukes which the whale moves up and down to propel itself through the water. In order to stay warm in cold waters the gray whale has a thick of insulated blubber which measure up to 10 inches thick.

State Marine mammal of California, the Gray whales, Have lot of living effects such as; the baleen of the gray whale helps them in filtering out food from the water by skim-feeding. The shape of their body helps in swimming with speed. The gray whale’s skin secrets small droplets of an oily substance which also helps reduce drag and increase speed. The huge amount of protein, myoglobin are consists in their muscles. When underwater, their heart rate slows down by almost 50%, thus conserving oxygen and extending dive times, which helping the whale to stay submerged for longer durations. The broad blubber of the gray whale keeps this marine mammal protects in the freezing waters they inhabit. The blubber also helps in keeping this whale afloat.

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