Question 1

True or false: Gray whales are often covered in barnacles and whale lice, giving them a rough, patchy appearance.

Accepted Answer

True. Their skin hosts dense colonies of barnacles and cyanid lice, especially on the head and tail, making them look crusty.

Question 2

True or false: Gray whales are known to have a dorsal fin like most other whales.

Accepted Answer

False. Gray whales lack a true dorsal fin; instead, they have a series of small bumps called knuckles along their back near the tail.

Question 3

True or false: Gray whales are bottom feeders, sucking up small crustaceans from the seafloor.

Accepted Answer

True. They roll on their side and scoop sediment, filtering out amphipods and other tiny creatures through their baleen plates.

Question 4

True or false: Gray whales were once hunted nearly to extinction but have since recovered in the eastern Pacific.

Accepted Answer

True. Eastern Pacific gray whales were removed from the endangered species list in 1994 after rebounding from near-extinction due to whaling.

Question 5

True or false: Gray whales make one of the longest migrations of any mammal, over 10,000 miles round trip.

Accepted Answer

True. They travel from Arctic feeding grounds to Baja California lagoons to breed and give birth, covering up to 12,000 miles annually.

Question 6

True or false: Gray whales can hold their breath for over an hour while diving for food.

Accepted Answer

False. Typical dives last 3 to 15 minutes; the longest recorded is about 30 minutes, far less than sperm whales or beaked whales.

Question 7

True or false: Gray whales have the thickest blubber of any whale species, up to 18 inches deep.

Accepted Answer

False. Bowhead whales have the thickest blubber (up to 20 inches), while gray whale blubber is about 4 to 6 inches thick.

Question 8

True or false: Gray whales are the only baleen whales that actively defend their calves by attacking boats.

Accepted Answer

False. While they can be protective, humpback whales are more famous for defending calves; gray whales rarely attack boats intentionally.

Gray Whale Trivia Questions