Editing Gray whale (section)

==Life history==
[[Image:Whale with Laguna Peak, California, in background.jpg|thumb|A whale swims off the coast near the [[Santa Monica Mountains]].]]

===Reproduction===
{{See also|Whale reproduction}}
[[File:Embryos of Eschrichtius robustus (illustrations) and outline of head showing spouthole in 1874 detail, from- The marine mammals of the north-western coast of North America (Plate III) BHL16226079 (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Embryo]]s of gray whale (1874 illustration) and outline of head showing spouthole]]
Breeding behavior is complex and often involves three or more animals. Both male and female whales reach puberty between the ages of 6 and 12 with an average of eight to nine years.<ref name="The Grey Whale">{{cite journal|url=http://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/mfr464/mfr4643.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031201305/http://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/mfr464/mfr4643.pdf |archive-date=2008-10-31 |url-status=live |author=Rice, D. |author2=Wolman, A. |author3=Braham, H. |name-list-style=amp |year=1984 |title=The Gray Whale, ''Eschrichtius robustus'' |journal=Marine Fisheries Review |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=7–14}}</ref> Females show highly synchronized reproduction, undergoing oestrus in late November to early December.<ref name="Gray-Whale">{{cite journal|url=http://lsiecosystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Jones-Gray-Whale-Calf-Production-byPhoto-ID-Analysis-1984.jpg.pdf |journal=Rep. Int. Whal. Comm. |issue=t2 |page=177 |author=Jones, Mary Lou |title=The Reproductive Cycle in Gray Whales Based on Photographic Resightings of Females on the Breeding Grounds from 1977–82 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426022201/http://lsiecosystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Jones-Gray-Whale-Calf-Production-byPhoto-ID-Analysis-1984.jpg.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-26 }}</ref> During the breeding season, it is common for females to have several mates.<ref Name="Swartz-Rugh-Taylor">{{cite journal|url=http://lsiecosystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Swartz-Rugh-Taylor-GW-Stock-ID-June-06.pdf |title=Gray whale ''Eschrichtius robustus'' population and stock identity |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2907.2006.00082.x |year=2006 |last1=Swartz |first1=Steven L. |last2=Taylor |first2=Barbara L. |last3=Rugh |first3=David J. |journal=Mammal Review |volume=36 |pages=66–84 |issue=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426022248/http://lsiecosystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Swartz-Rugh-Taylor-GW-Stock-ID-June-06.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-26 }}</ref> This single ovulation event is believed to coincide with the species' annual migration patterns, when births can occur in warmer waters.<ref Name="Swartz-Rugh-Taylor"/> Most females show biennial reproduction, although annual births have been reported.<ref name="Gray-Whale"/> Males also show seasonal changes, experiencing an increase in testes mass that correlates with the time females undergo oestrus.<ref Name="Swartz-Rugh-Taylor"/> Currently there are no accounts of twin births, although an instance of twins ''in utero'' has been reported.<ref name="Gray-Whale"/>

The gestation period for gray whales is approximately 13&nbsp;{{frac|1|2}} months, with females giving birth every one to three years.<ref name="The Grey Whale"/><ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Gray Whale {{!}} The Marine Mammal Center |url=https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/animal-care/learn-about-marine-mammals/cetaceans/gray-whale |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=www.marinemammalcenter.org |language=en}}</ref> In the latter half of the pregnancy, the fetus experiences a rapid growth in length and mass. Similar to the narrow breeding season, most calves are born within a six-week time period in mid January.<ref name="The Grey Whale"/> The calf is born tail first, and measures about 14–16&nbsp;ft in length, and a weight of 2,000&nbsp;lbs.<ref name="Fisheries"/> Females lactate for approximately seven months following birth, at which point calves are weaned and maternal care begins to decrease.<ref name="The Grey Whale"/> The shallow lagoon waters in which gray whales reproduce are believed to protect the newborn from [[shark]]s and [[orca]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.graywhalefoundation.org/gray-whales.htm|title=The Gray Whale Foundation|last=Solutions|first=Gray Whale Foundation {{!}} Rosodigital Creative|website=www.graywhalefoundation.org|language=en|access-date=2018-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203064444/http://www.graywhalefoundation.org/gray-whales.htm|archive-date=2018-02-03|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=BANG/>

On 7 January 2014, a pair of newborn or aborted [[conjoined twin]] gray whale calves were found dead in the Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Scammon's Lagoon), off the west coast of Mexico. They were joined by their bellies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/conjoined-gray-whale-calves-discovered-in-mexican-lagoon-could-be-worlds-first-ever-documented-find-9046110.html |title=Conjoined gray whale calves discovered in Mexican lagoon could be|date=January 8, 2014|website=The Independent}}</ref>

===Feeding===
[[File:Gray-Whale-Collage.jpg|thumb|left|Gray whale breaching off the coast of [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]], [[California]]]]
The whale feeds mainly on [[benthos|benthic]] [[crustacean]]s (such as [[amphipod]]s and [[Neotrypaea californiensis|ghost shrimp]]),<ref name="Kidd">{{Cite web|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Eschrichtius_robustus/|title=Eschrichtius robustus (gray whale)|first=Travis|last=Kidd|website=Animal Diversity Web}}</ref> which it eats by turning on its side and scooping up sediments from the sea floor. This unique feeding selection makes gray whales one of the most strongly reliant on coastal waters among baleen whales. It is classified as a [[baleen whale]] and has [[baleen]], or whalebone, which acts like a sieve, to capture small sea animals, including amphipods taken in along with sand, water and other material. Off Vancouver Island, gray whales commonly feed on shrimp-like [[mysids]].  When mysids are abundant gray whales are present in fairly large numbers. Despite mysids being a prey of choice, gray whales are opportunistic feeders and can easily switch from feeding planktonically to benthically. When gray whales feed planktonically, they roll onto their right side while their fluke remains above the surface, or they apply the skimming method seen in other baleen whales (skimming the surface with their mouth open). This skimming behavior mainly seems to be used when gray whales are feeding on crab larvae. Other prey items include [[polychaete worm]]s, [[Clupea pallasii|herring]] eggs, various forms of larvae, and small fish.<ref name="Kidd"/>

Gray whales feed benthically, by diving to the ocean floor and rolling on to their side, (like blue whales, gray whales seem to favor rolling onto their right side) and suck up prey from the sea floor.<ref>Oliver, J. S., Slattery, P. N., Silberstein, M. A., & O'Connor, E. F. (1981). A Comparison of Gray Whale, Eschrichtius robustus, Feeding in the Bering Sea and Baja California . Fishery Bulletin, 81(3), 513–522.</ref> Gray whales seem to favor feeding planktonically in their feeding grounds, but benthically along their migration route in shallower water.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Newell |first1=Carrie L. |last2=Cowles |first2=Timothy J. |title=Unusual gray whale ''Eschrichtius robustus'' feeding in the summer of 2005 off the central Oregon Coast |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |date=30 November 2006 |volume=33 |issue=22 |pages=L22S11 |doi=10.1029/2006GL027189 |bibcode=2006GeoRL..3322S11N |doi-access=free }}</ref> Mostly, the animal feeds in the northern waters during the summer; and opportunistically feeds during its migration, depending primarily on its extensive fat reserves. Another reason for this opportunistic feeding may be the result of population increases, resulting in the whales taking advantage of whatever prey is available, due to increased competition.<ref>Dunham, J. S., & Duffus, D. A. (2001). Foraging patterns of gray whales in central Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 223, 299–310.</ref> Feeding areas during migration seem to include the Gulf of California, Monterey Bay and Baja California Sur.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Sue E. |last2=Wynne |first2=Kate M. |last3=Kinney |first3=Jaclyn Clement |last4=Grebmeier |first4=Jacqueline M. |author-link4=Jacqueline M. Grebmeier|title=Gray Whale Occurrence and Forage Southeast of Kodiak, Island, Alaska |journal=Marine Mammal Science |date=April 2007 |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=419–428 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-7692.2007.00102.x |doi-access=free |bibcode=2007MMamS..23..419M }}</ref> Calf gray whales drink {{convert|50|-|80|lb|kg|abbr=on}} of their mothers' 53% fat milk per day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/species/Graywhale.shtml |title=GRAY WHALE: ZoomWhales.com |publisher=Enchantedlearning.com |access-date=2012-06-26}}</ref>

The main feeding habitat of the western Pacific subpopulation is the shallow ({{convert|5|-|15|m|ft|abbr=on|adj=on}} depth) shelf off northeastern [[Sakhalin Island]], particularly off the southern portion of Piltun Lagoon, where the main prey species appear to be [[amphipods]] and [[isopod]]s.<ref name=Weller1999/> In some years, the whales have also used an offshore feeding ground in {{convert|30|-|35|m|ft|abbr=on|adj=on}} depth southeast of Chayvo Bay, where benthic amphipods and [[cumaceans]] are the main prey species.<ref>Fadeev V.I. (2003). [http://www.sakhalinenergy.com/media/7d6c01c0-eb66-4ddf-a0df-31056cb622fe.pdf Benthos and prey studies in feeding grounds of the Okhotsk-Korean population of gray whales] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106174608/http://www.sakhalinenergy.com/media/7d6c01c0-eb66-4ddf-a0df-31056cb622fe.pdf |date=2017-01-06 }}. Final report on materials from field studies on the research vessel Nevelskoy in 2002. Marine Biology Institute, Vladivostok.</ref> Some gray whales have also been seen off western Kamchatka, but to date all whales photographed there are also known from the Piltun area.<ref name="IUCN Western"/><ref name=Reeves/>

[[File:Feeding mechanism of Eschrichtius robustus.svg|center|1200px]]
<div style="text-align:center;">
Diagram of the gray whale seafloor feeding strategy
</div>

[[File:Gray whale feeding at Yaquina Head.webm|thumb|A gray whale feeding near [[Yaquina Head]], Oregon]]
[[File:Greywhale845.jpg|thumb|right|A gray whale viewed from above]]

===Migration===
Predicted distribution models indicate that overall range in the [[last glacial period]] was broader or more southerly distributed, and inhabitations in waters where species presences lack in present situation, such as in southern hemisphere and south Asian waters and northern Indian Ocean were possible due to feasibility of the environment on those days.<ref name=Alter>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/mec.13121 |pmid=25753251 |title=Climate impacts on transocean dispersal and habitat in gray whales from the Pleistocene to 2100 |journal=Molecular Ecology |volume=24 |issue=7 |year=2015 |last1=Alter |first1=S. Elizabeth |last2=Meyer |first2=Matthias |last3=Post |first3=Klaas |last4=Czechowski |first4=Paul |last5=Gravlund |first5=Peter |last6=Gaines |first6=Cork |last7=Rosenbaum |first7=Howard C. |last8=Kaschner |first8=Kristin |last9=Turvey |first9=Samuel T. |last10=Van Der Plicht |first10=Johannes |last11=Shapiro |first11=Beth |last12=Hofreiter |first12=Michael |pages=1510–1522 |bibcode=2015MolEc..24.1510A |s2cid=17313811 |url=https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/43892 }}</ref> Range expansions due to recoveries and re-colonization in the future is likely to happen and the predicted range covers wider than that of today. The gray whale undergoes the longest migration of any mammal.<ref name=Swartz2018>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-804327-1.00140-0 |isbn=9780128043271 |chapter=Gray Whale |title=Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals |year=2018 |last1=Swartz |first1=Steven L. |pages=422–428 }}</ref>

====Eastern Pacific population====
[[Image:Anim1723 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg|thumb|A gray whale breaching in a lagoon on the coast of Mexico]]
Each October, as the northern ice pushes southward, small groups of eastern gray whales in the eastern Pacific start a two- to three-month, {{convert|8000|-|11000|km|mi|abbr=on}} trip south. Beginning in the [[Bering Sea|Bering]] and [[Chukchi Sea|Chukchi]] seas and ending in the warm-water [[lagoon]]s of Mexico's [[Baja California Peninsula]] and the southern [[Gulf of California]], they travel along the west coast of Canada, the United States and Mexico.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pike |first1=Gordon C. |title=Migration and Feeding of the Gray Whale (''Eschrichtius gibbosus'') |journal=Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada |date=1 May 1962 |volume=19 |issue=5 |pages=815–838 |doi=10.1139/f62-051 }}</ref>

Traveling night and day, the gray whale averages approximately {{convert|120|km|mi|abbr=on}} per day at an average speed of {{convert|8|km/h|mph|abbr=on|0}}. This round trip of {{convert|16000|-|22000|km|abbr=on}} is believed to be the longest annual migration of any [[mammal]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-18 |title=Map of the Gray Whale Migration - Baja Ecotours |url=https://www.bajaecotours.com/map-of-the-gray-whale-migration/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |language=en-US}}</ref> By mid-December to early January, the majority are usually found between [[Monterey, California|Monterey]] and [[San Diego, California|San Diego]] such as at [[Morro Bay State Marine Recreational Management Area and Morro Bay State Marine Reserve|Morro bay]], often visible from shore.<ref name=Swartz2018/> The [[whale watching]] industry provides [[ecotourism|ecotourists]] and [[marine mammal]] enthusiasts the opportunity to see groups of gray whales as they migrate.

By late December to early January, eastern grays begin to arrive in the calving lagoons and bays on the west coast of [[Baja California Sur]]. The three most popular are [[San Ignacio Lagoon|San Ignacio]], [[Magdalena Bay]] to the south, and, to the north, [[Laguna Ojo de Liebre]] (formerly known in English as Scammon's Lagoon after whaleman [[Charles Melville Scammon]], who discovered the lagoons in the 1850s and hunted the grays).<ref>{{cite web|title=Recovery of the Gray Whale|author=Davis, T.N.|url=http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF3/339.html|publisher=Alaska Science Forum|date=1979-09-06|access-date=2009-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212080641/http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF3/339.html|archive-date=2009-02-12|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Baja Legends|author=Niemann, G.|pages=171–173|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=35WQOduN1F4C&pg=PA171|year=2002|publisher=Sunbelt Publications|isbn=0-932653-47-2}}</ref>

Gray whales once ranged into [[Sea of Cortez]] and Pacific coasts of continental Mexico south to the [[Islas Marías]], [[Bahía de Banderas]], and [[Nayarit]]/[[Jalisco]], and there were two modern calving grounds in [[Sonora]] ([[Tojahui]] or [[Yavaros]]) and [[Sinaloa]] ([[Bahia Santa Maria]], Bahia Navachiste, La Reforma, Bahia Altata) until being abandoned in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Findley|first1= T.L.|last2= Vidal|first2= O.|year= 2002|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285118962|title= Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) at calving sites in the Gulf of California, México|journal= Journal of Cetacean Research and Management|volume =4|issue=1|pages=27–40}}</ref><ref>Mark Carwardine, 2019, 
Bloomsbury Publishing, Handbook of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, p.80</ref>

These first whales to arrive are usually pregnant mothers looking for the protection of the lagoons to bear their calves, along with single females seeking mates. By mid-February to mid-March, the bulk of the population has arrived in the lagoons, filling them with nursing, calving and mating gray whales.

Throughout February and March, the first to leave the lagoons are males and females without new calves. Pregnant females and nursing mothers with their newborns are the last to depart, leaving only when their calves are ready for the journey, which is usually from late March to mid-April. Often, a few mothers linger with their young calves well into May. Whale watching in Baja's lagoons is  particularly popular because the whales often come close enough to boats for tourists to pet them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Koontz |first=Kathi |date=2016-03-24 |title=Close Encounters With Baja’s Gray Whales |url=https://www.oceanicsociety.org/trip-reports/close-encounters-with-bajas-gray-whales/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Oceanic Society |language=en-US}}</ref>

By late March or early April, the returning animals can be seen from [[Puget Sound]] to Canada.

=====Resident groups=====
[[Image:Eschrichtius robustus Nootka 1.jpg|thumb|A gray whale swims near surf on [[Nootka Island]] within residential range.]]
A population of about 200 gray whales stay along the eastern Pacific coast from Canada to California throughout the summer, not making the farther trip to Alaskan waters. This summer resident group is known as the Pacific Coast feeding group.<ref>{{cite web|title=Demographic distinctness of the Pacific Coast Feeding Group of Gray Whales (''Eschrictius robustus'')|author=Lang, A.|url=http://swfsc.noaa.gov/textblock.aspx?Division=PRD&ParentMenuId=229&id=16955|publisher=NOAA Fisheries Service, Protected Resource Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center|date=January 19, 2011|access-date=2011-02-25}}</ref>

Any historical or current presence of similar groups of residents among the western population is currently unknown, however, whalers' logbooks and scientific observations indicate that possible year-round occurrences in Chinese waters and Yellow and Bohai basins were likely to be summering grounds.<ref name=GrayArea /><ref name=hkd2005 /> Some of the better documented historical catches show that it was common for whales to stay for months in enclosed waters elsewhere, with known records in the [[Seto Inland Sea]]<ref name="shikoku-np.co.jp" /> and the Gulf of Tosa. Former feeding areas were once spread over large portions on mid-Honshu to northern Hokkaido, and at least whales were recorded for majority of annual seasons including wintering periods at least along east coasts of [[Korean Peninsula]] and [[Yamaguchi Prefecture]].<ref name=hkd2005 /> Some recent observations indicate that historic presences of resident whales are possible: a group of two or three were observed feeding in [[Izu Ōshima]] in 1994 for almost a month,<ref name=Nakamura12>{{cite web|author=Suitube|year=2012|title=中村宏治 コククジラ撮影秘話！|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrUcUmQSufE| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/YrUcUmQSufE| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|publisher=Japan Underwater Films|page=[[YouTube]]|access-date=2015-01-07}}{{cbignore}}</ref> two single individuals stayed in [[Ise Bay]] for almost two months in the 1980s and in 2012, the first confirmed living individuals in Japanese [[EEZ]] in the Sea of Japan and the first of living cow-calf pairs since the end of whaling stayed for about three weeks on the coastline of [[Teradomari]] in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shikoku-np.co.jp/national/science_environmental/photo.aspx?id=20120417000459&no=1|title=コククジラが三河湾を回遊／絶滅恐れ、３月に１頭|work=四国新聞社|access-date=14 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://1topi.jp/curator/Makoto_Ninomiya/1303/05/104995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424094446/http://1topi.jp/curator/Makoto_Ninomiya/1303/05/104995 |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 April 2014 |title=サービス終了のお知らせ |access-date=14 May 2015 }}</ref> One of the pair returned to the same coasts at the same time of the year in 2015 again.<ref name=Niigata2015 /> Reviewing on other cases on different locations among Japanese coasts and islands observed during 2015 indicate that spatial or seasonal residencies regardless of being temporal or permanental staying once occurred throughout many parts of Japan or on other coastal Asia.<ref name=2015Rematch />

====Western population====
[[File:GyeongjuGlyphs1.jpg|thumb|Gray and other whales were depicted on the [[Bangudae Petroglyphs]], indicating their historical presences along [[Korean Peninsula]].<ref>UNESCO World Heritage Centre, [https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5486/ Daegokcheon Stream Petroglyphs]</ref>]]
[[Image:Sakhalin-gray-whale-small.jpg|thumb|A gray whale in the water off [[Sakhalin Island]].]]
The current western gray whale population summers in the [[Sea of Okhotsk]], mainly off [[Sakhalin-II|Piltun Bay]] region at the northeastern coast of [[Sakhalin Island]] (Russian Federation). There are also occasional sightings off the eastern coast of Kamchatka (Russian Federation) and in other coastal waters of the northern Okhotsk Sea.<ref name=Weller1999/><ref name=Vladimirov/> Its migration routes and wintering grounds are poorly known, the only recent information being from occasional records on both the eastern and western coasts of Japan<ref name=Kato/> and along the Chinese coast.<ref>Zhu, Q. (1998). "Strandings and sightings of the western Pacific stock of the gray whale ''Eschrichtius robustus'' in Chinese coastal waters. Paper SC/50lAS5 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee, April 1998, Oman</ref> Gray whale had not been observed on [[Commander Islands]] until 2016.<ref>[http://news.zapoved.ru/2016/05/31/krasnoknizhnyj-seryj-kit-priplyl-pod-okna-ofisa-zapovednika-komandorskij/ Краснокнижный серый кит приплыл под окна офиса заповедника «Командорский»] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312033503/http://news.zapoved.ru/2016/05/31/krasnoknizhnyj-seryj-kit-priplyl-pod-okna-ofisa-zapovednika-komandorskij/ |date=2017-03-12 }}. Retrieved on March 09, 2017</ref>  The northwestern pacific population consists of approximately 300 individuals, based on photo identification collected off of Sakhalin Island and Kamchatka.<ref name="Fisheries"/>

The [[Sea of Japan]] was once thought not to have been a migration route, until several entanglements were recorded.<ref name=HKD2402>{{cite journal |title=New observations on Gray whales, ''Eschrichtius robustus'', from Central Japan, Sea of Japan |author=Nambu, Hisao |author2=Minowa, Kazuhiro |author3=Tokutake, Kouji |author4=Yamada, Tadasu K. |name-list-style=amp |journal=Japan Cetology |volume=24 |issue=24 |pages=11–14 |year=2014 |doi=10.5181/cetology.0.24_11 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Any records of the species had not been confirmed since after 1921 on [[Kyushu]].<ref name=hkd2005 /> However, there were numerous records of whales along the [[Genkai Sea]] off [[Yamaguchi Prefecture]],<ref>Uni Y. (2004) [http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~unisan/data/graywhale/cetaken15.html 西部系群コククジラ ''Eschrictius robustus'' の記録集成と通過海峡] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924024507/http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~unisan/data/graywhale/cetaken15.html |date=2015-09-24 }}. dion.ne.jp</ref> in Ine Bay in the [[Wakasa Wan Quasi-National Park|Gulf of Wakasa]], and in [[Tsushima Strait|Tsushima]]. Gray whales, along with other species such as right whales and [[Baird's beaked whale]]s, were common features off the north eastern coast of [[Hokkaido]] near [[Teshio, Hokkaido|Teshio]], [[Ishikari Bay]] near [[Otaru]], the [[Shakotan Peninsula]], and islands in the [[La Pérouse Strait]] such as [[Rebun Island]] and [[Rishiri Island]]. These areas may also have included feeding grounds.<ref name=hkd2005 /> There are shallow, muddy areas favorable for feeding whales off [[Shiretoko Peninsula|Shiretoko]], such as at [[Shibetsu]], the [[Notsuke-Fūren Prefectural Natural Park|Notsuke Peninsula]], Cape Ochiishi on [[Nemuro Peninsula]], [[Mutsu Bay]],<ref name=geoc>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.jp/kayak_surfing/note/9.html|title=珍客コククジラ 静岡沖で潮吹き|publisher=geocities.jp|access-date=2014-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512221641/http://www.geocities.jp/kayak_surfing/note/9.html|archive-date=2014-05-12|url-status=dead}}</ref> along the [[Tottori Sand Dunes]], in the [[Suou-nada Sea]], and [[Ōmura Bay]].

The historical calving grounds were unknown but might have been along southern Chinese coasts from [[Zhejiang]] and [[Fujian Province]] to [[Guangdong]], especially south of Hailing Island<ref name=GrayArea /> and to near [[Hong Kong]]. Possibilities include [[Daya Bay]], [[Wailou]] Harbour on [[Leizhou Peninsula]], and possibly as far south as [[Hainan Province]] and [[Guangxi]], particularly around [[Hainan Island]]. These areas are at the southwestern end of the known range.<ref name="IUCN Western"/><ref name=Brownell/> It is unknown whether the whales' normal range once reached further south, to the [[Gulf of Tonkin]]. In addition, the existence of historical calving ground on [[Taiwan]] and [[Penghu|Penghu Islands]] (with some fossil records<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2517/2014PR009|title=Quaternary Fossil Gray Whales from Taiwan|journal=Paleontological Research|volume=18|issue=2|page=82|year=2014|last1=Tsai|first1=Cheng-Hsiu|last2=Fordyce|first2=R. Ewan|last3=Chang|first3=Chun-Hsiang|last4=Lin|first4=Liang-Kong|s2cid=131250469}}
</ref> and captures<ref>Brownell, R.L., Donovan, G.P., Kato, H., Larsen, F., Mattila, D., Reeves, R.R., Rock, Y., Vladimirov, V., Weller, D. & Zhu, Q. (2010) [https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/12737 Conservation Plan for Western North Pacific Gray Whales  (''Eschrichtius robustus'')]. IUCN</ref>), and any presence in other areas outside of the known ranges off [[Babuyan Islands]] in [[Philippines]] and coastal [[Vietnam]]ese waters in [[Gulf of Tonkin]] are unknown. There is only one confirmed record of accidentally killing of the species in Vietnam, at Ngoc Vung Island off [[Ha Long Bay]] in 1994 and the skeleton is on exhibition at the [[Quang Ninh]] Provincial Historical Museum.<ref>2014. [http://www.cesti.gov.vn/kh-cn-trong-nuoc/chuan-hoa-ten-ca-voi-xam-trong-bo-suu-tap-mau-vat-bao-tang-lich-su-quang-ninh.html Chuẩn hóa lại tên cá voi xám trong bộ sưu tập mẫu vật của bảo tàng lịch sử tỉnh Quảng Ninh] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312035151/http://www.cesti.gov.vn/kh-cn-trong-nuoc/chuan-hoa-ten-ca-voi-xam-trong-bo-suu-tap-mau-vat-bao-tang-lich-su-quang-ninh.html |date=2017-03-12 }}. Retrieved on March 09, 2017</ref><ref>2012. [http://grobest.com.vn/tin-tuc/44-tin-tuc/310-bi-an-nhung-con-ca-voi-khong-lo-dat-vao-bien-viet-nam.html Bí ẩn những con cá khổng lồ dạt vào biển Việt Nam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312035203/http://grobest.com.vn/tin-tuc/44-tin-tuc/310-bi-an-nhung-con-ca-voi-khong-lo-dat-vao-bien-viet-nam.html |date=2017-03-12 }}. Retrieved on March 09, 2017</ref> Gray whales are known to occur in [[Taiwan Strait]] even in recent years.<ref name=Pingtan>What's on [[Xiamen]].[http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/tag-Pingtan+gray+whale.html Tags > Pingtan gray whale] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625015736/http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/tag-Pingtan+gray+whale.html |date=2017-06-25 }}. Retrieved on November 24. 2014</ref>

It is also unknown whether any winter breeding grounds ever existed beyond Chinese coasts. For example, it is not known if the whales visited the southern coasts of the Korean Peninsula, adjacent to the [[Jeju Province|Island of Jeju]]), [[Haiyang]] Island, the Gulf of [[Shanghai]], or the [[Zhoushan Archipelago]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=中华人民共和国濒危物种科学委员会 |title=濒危物种数据库 – 灰鲸 Eschrichtius robustus (Lilljeborg, 1861) |url=http://www.cites.org.cn/database/index.php?action=item&cid=26 |page=the [[CITES]] |access-date=2014-11-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225151532/http://www.cites.org.cn/database/index.php?action=item&cid=26 |archive-date=2014-12-25 }}</ref> There is no evidence of historical presence in Japan south of [[Ōsumi Peninsula]];<ref>Uni Y., 2010, 『コククジラは大隅海峡を通るのか?』, Japan Cetology Research Group News Letter 25, retrieved on 11-05-2014</ref> only one skeleton has been discovered in [[Miyazaki Prefecture]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://svrsh1.kahaku.go.jp/marmam/?p=6|title=海棲哺乳類情報データベース|access-date=14 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903230215/http://svrsh1.kahaku.go.jp/marmam/?p=6|archive-date=3 September 2015}}</ref>  {{interlanguage link|Hideo Omura|jp|大村秀雄|vertical-align=sup}} once considered the [[Seto Inland Sea]] to be a historical breeding ground, but only a handful of capture records support this idea, although migrations into the sea have been confirmed. Recent studies using genetics and acoustics, suggest that there are several wintering sites for western gray whales such as Mexico and the East China sea. However, their wintering ground habits in the western North Pacific are still poorly understood and additional research is needed.<ref name="shikoku-np.co.jp">{{cite web|url=http://www.shikoku-np.co.jp/feature/rensa/3/2/|title=連鎖の崩壊 第３部 命のふるさと ２−四国新聞社|access-date=14 May 2015}}</ref>

====Recent migration in Asian waters====
[[File:Gray Whale, Aogashima, March 11, 2017 by Aurora Chihiro.jpg|thumb|Gray whale at [[Aogashima]], [[Izu Islands]] in March, 2017.]]
Even though [[South Korea]] put the most effort into conservation of the species among the Asian nations, there are no confirmed sightings along the Korean Peninsula or even in the Sea of Japan in recent years.

The last confirmed record in Korean waters was the sighting of a pair off [[Bangeojin]], [[Ulsan]] in 1977.<ref>{{cite web|author=Kim W.H., Sohn H.|author2=An Y-R.|author3=Park J.K.|author4=Kim N.D.|author5=Doo Hae An H.D.|year=2013|title=Report of Gray Whale Sighting Survey off Korean waters from 2003 to 2011|url=https://archive.iwc.int/?r=4795&k=a9d2de03fa|publisher=Cetacean Research Institute, [[National Fisheries Research & Development Institute]]|access-date=2014-05-18}}</ref> Prior to this, the last was of catches of 5 animals<ref name=GPR>[http://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/Global/eastasia/publications/reports/oceans/Disappearing%20Whales%20-%20South%20Korea.PDF Disappearing Whales: Korea's Inconvenient Truth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305210932/http://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/Global/eastasia/publications/reports/oceans/Disappearing%20Whales%20-%20South%20Korea.PDF |date=2016-03-05 }}. Greenpeace (2012)</ref> off [[Ulsan]] in 1966.<ref name=GrayArea /> There was a possible sighting of a whale within the port of [[Samcheok]] in 2015.<ref>Hyun Woo Kim, Hawsun Sohn, Yasutaka Imai, 2018, Possible occurrence of a Gray Whale off Korea in 2015, International Whaling Commission, SC/67B/CMP/11 Rev1</ref>

There had been 24 records along Chinese coasts including sighting, stranding, intended hunts, and bycatches since 1933.<ref name=2011insights>{{cite journal|doi=10.1578/AM.41.3.2015.327 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281442497 |title=Short Note: Insights from a Gray Whale (''Eschrichtius robustus'') Bycaught in the Taiwan Strait Off China in 2011|journal=Aquatic Mammals |volume=41 |issue=3 |page=327 |year=2015 |last1=Xianyan |first1=Wang |last2=Min |first2=Xu |last3=Fuxing |first3=Wu |last4=Weller |first4=David W. |last5=Xing |first5=Miao |last6=Lang |first6=Aimee R. |last7=Qian |first7=Zhu }}</ref> The last report of occurrence of the species in Chinese waters was of a stranded semi adult female in the [[Bohai Sea]] in 1996,<ref name=GrayArea>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275960466 |title=A Gray Area: On the Matter of Gray Whales in the Western North Pacific |date=2015-05-07 |access-date=2017-01-06}}</ref> and the only record in Chinese waters in the 21st century was of a fully-grown female being killed by entanglement in [[Pingtan County|Pingtan]], [[China]] in November, 2007.<ref name=Pingtan/> DNA studies indicated that this individual might have originated from the eastern population rather than the western.<ref name=2011insights />

Most notable observations of living whales after the 1980s were of 17 or 18 whales along [[Primorsky Krai]] in late October, 1989 (prior to this, a pair was reported swimming in the area in 1987), followed by the record of 14 whales in [[La Pérouse Strait]] on 13th, June in 1982 (in this strait, there was another sighting of a pair in October, 1987).<ref name=hkd2005>{{cite journal |url=http://hkd.a.la9.jp/jc/JC2005.pdf |title=Records of the western gray whale, ''Eschrichtius robustus'': its distribution and migration |journal=Japan Cetology |volume=20 |pages=21–29 |year=2010 |author=Nambu, Hisao |author2=Ishikawa, Hajime |author3=Yamada, Tadasu K. |name-list-style=amp |access-date=2015-10-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040109/http://hkd.a.la9.jp/jc/JC2005.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead | issue=20 | doi=10.5181/cetology.0.20_21 }}</ref> In 2011, presences of gray whales were acoustically detected among pelagic waters in East China Sea between Chinese and Japanese waters.<ref>Gagnon, Chuck (November 2016) [https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/wgwap_17-inf.6_iwc_66-cc29_wgw_observations_east_china_sea.pdf Western gray whale activity in the East China Sea from acoustic data: Memorandum for Dr. Brandon Southall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224235107/https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/wgwap_17-inf.6_iwc_66-cc29_wgw_observations_east_china_sea.pdf |date=2016-12-24 }}. iucn.org</ref>

Since the mid-1990s, almost all the confirmed records of living animals in Asian waters were from Japanese coasts.<ref>{{cite report|author=Kato H.|author2=Kishiro T.|author3=Bando T.|author4=Ohizumi H.|author5=Nakamura G.|author6=Okazoe N.|author7=Yoshida H.|author8= Mogoe T.|author9=Miyashita T.|url=https://archive.iwc.int/pages/search.php?search=!collection221&bc_from=themes|year=2015|title=Status Report of Conservation and Researches on the Western North Pacific Gray Whales in Japan, May 2014 – April 2015|journal=SC/66a/BRG|access-date=2016-02-23}}</ref> There have been eight to fifteen sightings and stray records including unconfirmed sightings and re-sightings of the same individual, and one later killed by net-entanglement. The most notable of these observations are listed below:

* The feeding activities of a group of two or three whales that stayed around [[Izu Ōshima]] in 1994 for almost a month were recorded underwater<ref name="Nakamura12"/> by several researchers and whale photographers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.juf.co.jp/english/|title=Japan Underwater Films |access-date=14 May 2015}}</ref>
* A pair of thin juveniles were sighted off [[Kuroshio, Kōchi]], a renowned town for whale-watching tourism of resident and sub-resident populations of [[Bryde's whale]]s, in 1997.<ref name=dbase>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060253/http://svrsh2.kahaku.go.jp/drift/FMPro?-db=rec2000web.fp5&-lay=hp&-format=%2Fdrift%2Fe%2Fdetail.htm&rec_id=19970722EX-032&-find Marine Mammals Stranding DataBase]. kahaku.go.jp</ref> This sighting was unusual because of the location on mid-latitude in summer time.
* Another pair of sub-adults were confirmed swimming near the mouth of Otani River in [[Suruga Bay]] in May, 2003.<ref name=geoc/>
* A sub-adult whale that stayed in the Ise and [[Mikawa Bay]] for nearly two months in 2012<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beachland.jp/beach_blog/post/e5889de8a898e98cb2efbc81e4b889e6b2b3e6b9bee381a6e382b3e382afe382afe382b7e383a9.aspx |title=footage |publisher=Beachland.jp |access-date=2017-01-06 |archive-date=2017-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627165031/http://www.beachland.jp/beach_blog/post/e5889de8a898e98cb2efbc81e4b889e6b2b3e6b9bee381a6e382b3e382afe382afe382b7e383a9.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.beachland.jp/beach/study/pdf/18.pdf 2012 年に漂着した海棲哺乳類につい] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427223722/http://www.beachland.jp/beach/study/pdf/18.pdf |date=2014-04-27 }}. .beachland.jp</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beachland.jp/beach_blog/post/e4bc8ae58ba2e6b9bee381a6e382afe382b7e383a9e799bae8a68befbc81efbc81.aspx |title=伊勢湾でクジラ発見！！ |publisher=Beachland.jp |access-date=2017-01-06 |archive-date=2017-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627171800/http://www.beachland.jp/beach_blog/post/e4bc8ae58ba2e6b9bee381a6e382afe382b7e383a9e799bae8a68befbc81efbc81.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> was later confirmed to be the same individual as the small whale observed off [[Tahara, Aichi|Tahara]] near [[Cape Irago]] in 2010,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beachland.jp/beach_blog/post/e2809ce38395e383aae383b3e5b195e2809de3818be38289e2809ce382b3e382afe382afe382b7e383a9e5b195e2809de381b8.aspx |title="プリン展"から"コククジラ展"へ |publisher=www.beachland.jp |access-date=2017-01-06 |archive-date=2017-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627150033/http://www.beachland.jp/beach_blog/post/e2809ce38395e383aae383b3e5b195e2809de3818be38289e2809ce382b3e382afe382afe382b7e383a9e5b195e2809de381b8.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> making it the first confirmed constant migration out of Russian waters. The juvenile observed off [[Owase]] in Kumanonada Sea in 2009 might or might not be the same individual. The Ise and Mikawa Bay region is the only location along Japanese coasts that has several records since the 1980s (a mortal entanglement in 1968, above mentioned short-stay in 1982, self-freeing entanglement in 2005),<ref name="shikoku-np.co.jp"/><ref name=dbase/> and is also the location where the first commercial whaling started. Other areas with several sighting or stranding records in recent years are off the Kumanonada Sea in [[Wakayama Prefecture|Wakayama]], off  [[Oshika Peninsula]] in [[Tōhoku]], and on coastlines close to [[Tomakomai]], [[Hokkaido]].
* Possibly the first confirmed record of living animals in Japanese waters in the Sea of Japan since the end of whaling occurred on 3 April 2014 at Nodumi Beach, [[Teradomari, Niigata]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Birdnetmaster|year=2015|title=2014年 日本海に出現したコククジラ / Grey whale 2014 Sea of Japan|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS5b6Quo8hs| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/FS5b6Quo8hs| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|publisher=[[YouTube]]|access-date=2015-10-14}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author=Aoyagi A. |author2=Okuda J. |author3=Nambu H. |author4=Honma Y. |author5=Yamada K. T. |author6=Satou T. |author7=Ohta M. |author8=Ohara J. |author9=Imamura M. |title=2014年春に新潟県信濃川大河津分水路河口付近に出現したコククジラの観察 |journal=Japan Cetology |volume=24 |year=2014 |pages=15–22 |doi=10.5181/cetology.0.24_15 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.47news.jp/smp/localnews/toretate/2014/04/post_20140404142744.php|title=寺泊沖にクジラ現る・長岡 「生きたまま初めて見た」地元驚き|publisher=The 47NEWS|access-date=14 May 2015}}</ref> Two individuals, measuring ten and five metres respectively, stayed near the mouth of [[Shinano River]] for three weeks.<ref name=SC65bBRG12/> It is unknown whether this was a cow-calf pair, which would have been a first record in Asia. All of the previous modern records in the Sea of Japan were of by-catches.<ref name=HKD2402 />
* One of the above pair returned on the same beaches at the same time of a year in 2015.<ref name=Niigata2015>{{cite web|year=2015 |title=Nearly extinct western gray whale sighted again in coastal waters off Niigata |url=http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/112273.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071001/http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/112273.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=2016-03-04 |work=Asahi }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author= Itou K.|year=2015|title=絶滅危惧のコククジラ、２年連続で現れた 新潟・長岡|url=http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASH4N5V61H4NUOHB01S.html|newspaper=The [[Asahi Shimbun]] |access-date=2015-10-13}}</ref>
*A juvenile or possibly or not with another larger individual remained in Japanese waters between January or March and May 2015.<ref>{{cite web|author=Takanawa N.|year=2015|title=【フォトギャラリー】伊豆諸島で見つかった希少なコククジラ|url=http://natgeo.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/web/15/360768/041600002/?ST=m_column|publisher=Japanese office of the [[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]|access-date=2015-10-14}}</ref> It was first confirmed occurrences of the species on remote, oceanic islands in Japan. One or more visited waters firstly on [[Kōzu-shima]] and [[Nii-Jima]] for weeks then adjacent to [[Miho no Matsubara]] and behind the [[Tokai University]] campus for several weeks.<ref>{{cite web|year=2015|title=コククジラ in 日本（超貴重）Western Gray Whale sightings (Extremely Rare!) |url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAILdeR3ZgA6mL0--dtsXHAALevCsK7kJ|publisher=[[YouTube]]|access-date=2015-10-14}}</ref> Possibly the same individual was seen off Futo as well.<ref name=oceana>{{cite web|url=https://oceana.ne.jp/domestic/59265 |title=ダイビング中にコククジラと遭遇のミラクル！ ～房総半島・西川名と伊豆半島・赤沢で相次ぐ～ ｜ オーシャナ |publisher=Oceana.ne.jp |date=2016-01-19 |access-date=2017-01-06}}</ref> This later was identified as the same individual previously recorded on Sakhalin in 2014, the first re-recording one individual at different Asian locations.<ref name=2015Rematch>{{cite conference|last1=Weller|first1=D. W.|last2=Takanawa|first2=N.|first3=H.|last3=Ohizumi|first4=N.|last4=Funahashi|first5=O. A.|last5=Sychenko|first6=A. M.|last6= Burdin|first7=A. R.|last7=Lang|first8=R. L.|last8=Brownell Jr.|year=2015|url=https://archive.iwc.int/pages/search.php?search=!collection221&bc_from=themes|title=Photographic match of a western gray whale between Sakhalin Island, Russia, and the Pacific Coast of Japan. Paper SC/66a/BRG/17|book-title=International Whaling Commission, Scientific Committee (SC66a meeting)|location=San Diego, USA}}</ref>
* A young whale was observed by land-based fishermen at Cape Irago in March, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/ryo.okamoto.902/videos/744000622363775/ |title=Ryo Okamoto – 伊良湖岬で釣りしてたら、クジラ出現。... |publisher=Facebook |date=2015-03-23 |access-date=2017-01-06}}</ref>
* One of the above pair appeared in 2015 off southeastern Japan and then reappeared off [[Tateyama, Chiba|Tateyama]] in January, 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ei7s8Rfqa8 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/7ei7s8Rfqa8| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|title=今日のコククジラ 館山 西川名 201601f |publisher=YouTube |date=2016-01-09 |access-date=2017-01-06}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The identity of this whale was confirmed by Nana Takanawa who photographed the same whale on Niijima in 2015.<ref>Braulik, Gill (2015-04-16) [https://web.archive.org/web/20160123234348/https://www.iucn-csg.org/index.php/2015/04/16/1940/ Young Gray Whale Sighted near Tokyo Islands]. IUCN SSC – Cetacean Specialist Group</ref> Likely the same individual was sighted off Futo<ref name=oceana /> and half an hour later off Akazawa beach in [[Itō, Shizuoka]] on the 14th.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML7xk3FXosQ | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/ML7xk3FXosQ| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|title=赤沢 コククジラ 2016.1.14 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=2017-01-06}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ds-mieux.com/?p=19346 |title=伊豆のダイビングサービス &#124; ダイビングサービス mieux -みう- &#124; クジラが～！！ |date=14 January 2016 |publisher=Ds-mieux.com |access-date=2017-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/ds.mieux/videos/1695723133979427/?fref=nf |title=動画っす(｀_´)ゞ – ダイビングサービス mieux – みう |publisher=Facebook |date=2016-01-13 |access-date=2017-01-06}}</ref> The whale then stayed next to a pier on [[Miyake-jima]] and later at Habushi beach on Niijima, the same beach the same individual stayed near on the previous year.
* One whale of {{convert|9|m|ft}} was beached nearby [[Wadaura Station|Wadaura]] on March 4, 2016.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305073024/http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20160305/k10010432701000.html 絶滅心配 コククジラの死骸 千葉・南房総で見つかる]. nhk.or.jp (2015-05-03)</ref> Investigations on the corpse indicate that this was likely a different individual from the above animal.
* A {{convert|7|m|ft}} carcass of young female was firstly reported floating along [[Atami]] on 4 April then was washed ashore on [[Itō, Shizuoka|Ito]] on the 6th.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digital.izu-np.co.jp/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420005528/http://izu-np.co.jp/ito/news/20160407iz0000000007000c.html|url-status=dead|title=伊豆新聞デジタル – IZU SHIMBUN DIGITAL --|archive-date=April 20, 2016|website=伊豆新聞デジタル}}</ref>
* As of April 20, 2017, one or more whale(s) have been staying within [[Tokyo Bay]] since February although at one point another whale if or if not the same individual sighted off [[Hayama, Kanagawa]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=日本テレビ |title=東京湾で目撃相次ぐクジラ カメラが捉えた｜日テレNEWS NNN |url=https://news.ntv.co.jp/category/society/359324 |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=日テレNEWS NNN |language=ja-JP}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v7b02cCsP0 |title=ゴムボート東京湾ホエールウォッチング❗ |date=2017-03-26 |last=鎌倉ゴムボートコング山田肇 |access-date=2024-11-22 |via=YouTube}}</ref> It is unclear the exact number of whales included in these sightings; two whales reported by fishermen and Japanese coastal guard reported three whales on 20th or 21st.<ref>[[:ja:みんなのニュース|みんなのニュース]]. 2017. [http://www.fnn-news.com/news/headlines/articles/CONN00356017.html 撮影成功! 姿現した「東京湾クジラ」] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422211841/http://www.fnn-news.com/news/headlines/articles/CONN00356017.html |date=2017-04-22 }}. The [[Fuji News Network]] Retrieved on April 22, 2017</ref>