Gray Whales: Mouthful of Baleen

Mouthful of Baleen

This baby's mouth is open so you can see the baleen. The baleen hangs like a curtain from the upper jaws. It takes the place of teeth in whale species with two blowholes. This baby still nurses on mother's milk but the baleen helps gray whales eat.

Gray whales don't eat like other whales do. They dive to the bottom, roll on their side and suck in a mouthful of mud and water from the seabed! Next, theypush the muddy water out using their giant tonge. Tiny organisms that live on the seabed stay in the baleen as water and silt get filtered out. Gray whales feed in shallow waters, usually 150-400 feet deep. Adults can consume 1-1½ tons of food per day during peak feeding periods back on their cold arctic feeding grounds. There is little, if any, food for them in the warm lagoons but their blubber helps them survive.

Photo: Renee Bonner

Baby whale's mouth open to show baleen