How big does a Gray whale get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) reaches an average size of 11.84 meter (38′ 11″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 77 years, they grow from 500 kg (1102.31 lbs) to 27312.01 kg (60212.61 lbs). A Gray whale has 1 babies at once. The Gray whale (genus: Eschrichtius) is a member of the family Eschrichtiidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), also known as the grey whale, gray back whale, Pacific gray whale, or California gray whale, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of 14.9 meters (49 ft), a weight of 36 tonnes (40 short tons), and lives between 55 and 70 years. The common name of the whale comes from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. Gray whales were once called devil fish because of their fighting behavior when hunted. The gray whale is the sole living species in the genus Eschrichtius, which in turn is the sole living genus in the family Eschrichtiidae. This mammal descended from filter-feeding whales that appeared at the beginning of the Oligocene, over 30 million years ago.The gray whale is distributed in an eastern North Pacific (North American), and an endangered western North Pacific (Asian), population. North Atlantic populations were extirpated (perhaps by whaling) on the European coast before AD 500, and on the American coast around the late 17th to early 18th centuries. Even so, on May 8, 2010, a sighting of a gray whale was confirmed off the coast of Israel in the Mediterranean Sea, leading some scientists to think they might be repopulating old breeding grounds that have not been visited for centuries. In May and June 2013, a gray whale was sighted off the coast of Namibia – the first confirmed in the Southern Hemisphere. The round-trip journey of one gray whale has set a new record for the longest mammal migration, covering a distance of more than 22,000 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean. Her migration has shown new insight into how endangered species are making drastic changes in their life style.
Animals with the same size as a Gray whale
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Gray whale:
- North Atlantic right whale with a size of 13.92 meter (45′ 9″)
- Sperm whale with a size of 12.18 meter (40′ 0″)
- Humpback whale with a size of 12.87 meter (42′ 3″)
- Bryde’s whale with a size of 13.85 meter (45′ 6″)
- Bowhead whale with a size of 12.2 meter (40′ 1″)
- Southern right whale with a size of 14.15 meter (46′ 6″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Gray whale
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Gray whale:
- Canyon bat
- Taiwan vole
- Smoky flying squirrel
- Fraternal myotis
- Thomson’s gazelle
- Rahm’s brush-furred rat
- Wagner’s bonneted bat
- Plush-coated ringtail possum
- Grandidier’s mongoose
- Giant panda
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Gray whale
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Gray whale:
- African bush elephant with an average maximal age of 80 years
- Sei whale with an average maximal age of 74 years
- Asian elephant with an average maximal age of 80 years
- Sperm whale with an average maximal age of 77 years
- Short-finned pilot whale with an average maximal age of 63 years
- Horse with an average maximal age of 62 years
- Bryde’s whale with an average maximal age of 72 years
- Dugong with an average maximal age of 70 years
- Berardius with an average maximal age of 71 years
Animals with the same weight as a Gray whale
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Eschrichtius robustus:
- North Atlantic right whale with a weight of 23000 kilos (50706.26 lbs)
- Humpback whale with a weight of 30000 kilos (66138.6 lbs)
- Southern right whale with a weight of 23000 kilos (50706.26 lbs)
- Pygmy right whale with a weight of 32000 kilos (70547.84 lbs)
- Sei whale with a weight of 22103.13 kilos (48729 lbs)