sierraclub.org - sierra magazine - july/august 2011 - whales - whales: the sea's mysterious giants
Photography by Flip Nicklin/Minden Pictures, from Among Giants | Captions by Della Watson
Gray whales feed by swimming on their sides along the ocean floor and filtering sediment through the baleen in their mouths to capture crustaceans and other small animals. The whales' "feeding pits" dimple the bottom of the shallow coastal waters of the northern Pacific. Offshore drilling operations could pose a mounting threat to the whales.