TITLE: Gray Whale Migration

DESCRIPTION: The gray whale is the most primitive of the great whales, a living fossil possessed of unformed baleen plates and no dorsal fin. In many respects their behavior seems more akin to human behavior than that of any other whale species. They dote on our attention. Many whalewatchers have commented that gray whales seem as fascinated to observe us as we are distracted looking at them. Whalewatching operators along the Pacific coast of North America, and in the lagoons of Baja consistently report gray whales venturing up to people to rub a rostrum against the sides of the boats. Grays are the only cetacean that regularly allow human beings to pet them. Even dolphins, commonly accorded the status of friendliest cetacean, rarely permit humans the gift of touch despite the fact that in the Bahamas and Hawaii people have been swimming with the same pods for years. In one well-documented petting encounter with grays, an animal became so frisky that it rose underneath the boat, lifting the human occupants into the air like a waiter lifting a platter onto his shoulder. When the balance went awry, everyone on board fell headlong into the water. Tragically, one man died of a heart seizure. (from The Charged Border by Jim Nollman [Holt]).