In 1976 the state legislature named the gray whale
(Eschrichtius robustus) as the official California State Marine Mammal.
Gray whales were hunted almost to extinction in the
nineteenth century. Whalers from the United States and England frequented
California
ports during the Spanish and Mexican periods. Stations for offshore
hunting were established during the early American period from
Crescent City in the north to Point Loma on San Diego Bay in the
south.
The gray whale averages about 36 feet in length and
can be spotted from the California coast during their migration.
The gray whales summer in the Bering sea or other northern waters
and spend the winter in favored breeding areas in coastal Baja California.
In most years, the first southern-migrating individuals pass along
the California coast in December with peak numbers passing by in
early January. Northward movement may begin as early as February.
Mother-calf pairs often travel at a leisurely speed and very close
to the shoreline from April to June. Their migration is the farthest
of any mammal.
