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Gray Whale

Gray Whale line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Gray Whale full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Gray Whale was completed on 8.19.2011. After a recent trip to the Channel Islands (which are about 30-40 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara in California) I did some research into the larger marine mammals in the area, and was glad to learn that Gray Whales pass through the area, and sometimes linger in and around the kelp beds interacting with divers. This didn't happen to me, but it did happen to the people whose photo this drawing is based on: http://www.howardhall.com/stories/greymorning.html

Information about the Gray Whale:

The Gray Whale is a large marine mammal weighing about 35-40 tons and growing to a length of 52 feet (16 meters). They are found in the eastern North Pacific Ocean, and there also a small and critically endangered population in the western North Pacific Ocean. They were once found in the Atlantic Ocean, but were hunted to extinction in that area, although there have been reported sightings that may mean they are attempting to repopulate those waters. The Gray Whale feeds on small animals called benthic crustaceans. Each October, these mammals make a long migration from the Berin and Chukchi sea, which begin to freeze with the onset of winter, southwards to the warm waters of the Gulf of California, where they will have their offspring. The Gray Whale is the only living species of the genus Physeter. They were given protection in 1949 by the International Whaling Commission and since then have not been hunted on a large scale and the whale is not considered endangered.