Editing Gray whale (section)

===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]]
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Diagram of the gray whale seafloor feeding strategy
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[[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]]