Welcome back to Wild Facts! It is great to have all of you here on this beautiful Thursday.  I am glad you were able to join us since Wild Fact #572 is going to be a big one.  Literally, since we are heading to the ocean to explore the life of the Gray Whale.  There is no doubt in my mind that we will have a whale of a time today since the Gray Whale is a fascinating creature.  You know what, I am so excited to talk about them that we are going to jump into the facts right……………now!

If you have ever seen a Gray Whale then you may have noticed that they are generally covered in something.  What is this you ask?  Well, my good friend they are covered with parasites and other organisms.  This gives them the appearance of an old rock lying around in the ocean.  Don’t worry, these parasites don’t necessarily hurt our friendly giant.  Not to mention that the majority of these hitchhikers will probably drop off as the Gray Whale enters their freezing cold feeding grounds.

Actually, speaking of those feeding grounds, did you know that the Gray Whale is one of the greatest mammal migrators.  Yep, this crazy whale will travel up to 20 000 kilometers (12 430 miles) as they go from their summer home in Alaska all the way down to their winter home in Mexico (and return).  Once they get to these warmer waters, the Gray Whale will head to the shallow areas to breed.  They usually stick around in this warm climate for a few months so the young whales can build up enough blubber for the trip back north.  Let’s face it, you don’t want to hang out in freezing waters of Alaska without a good pair of thermal underwear. The best part of this migration is the fact that we will often get to see these pods of whales surfacing for air.  I bet if you live on the west coast of North America, you have had the opportunity to view these long migrating mammals.

Well, it looks like we are at the end of another Wild Fact.  Only one more to go this week.  Man, time flies when you are having fun.  See you tomorrow!