Gray whale  (Eschrichtius robustus)

Authenticated (09/10/02) by WDCS, The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
http://www.wdcs.org

• Baleen: in some whales, the comb-like fibrous plates hanging from the upper jaw that are used to sieve food from sea water. These are often referred to as whalebone.
• Crustaceans: diverse group of arthropods (a phylum of animals with jointed limbs and a hard chitinous exoskeleton) characterised by the possession of two pairs of antennae, one pair of mandibles (parts of the mouthparts used for handling and processing food) and two pairs of maxillae (appendages used in eating, which are located behind the mandibles). Includes crabs, lobsters, shrimps, slaters, woodlice and barnacles.
• Dorsal fin: in fish, the unpaired fin found on the back of the body.
• Gestation: the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth.
• Invertebrate: animals with no backbone.
• Molluscs: a diverse group of invertebrates, mainly marine, that have one or all of the following; a horny, toothed ribbon in the mouth (the radula), a shell covering the upper surface of the body, and a mantle or mantle cavity with a type of gill. Includes snails, slugs, shellfish, octopuses and squid.

1. IUCN Red List (June, 2008)
   http://www.iucnredlist.org
2. Macdonald, D. (2001) The New Encyclopedia of Mammals.Oxford University Press, Oxford.
3. CITES (February, 2002)
   http://www.cites.org
4. Carwardine, M., Hoyt, E., Fordyce, R.E. and Gill, P. (1998) Whales and Dolphins.Harper Collins Publishers, London.
5. Jones, M.L. and Swartz, S.L. (2002) Gray whale. In: Perrin, W.F., Würsig, B. and Thewissen, J.G.M. (Eds) Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals.Academic Press, London.
6. WDCS. (2002) Pers. comm.