Young Gray Whale ( Baby Whale ) approaches small motor boat. Moisture from blow hole catches sun to form rainbow.

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Gray Whale Juvenile (Baby Whale) scientific name: Eschrichtius robustus. Rainbow present due to sun striking exhaled moisture from blow hole of the whale. Mother and baby are habituated to humans in this the St. Ignacio Lagoon along the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula. Many of these whales come down along the coast from coastal areas of Siberia. There the food is plentiful but they journey down to the Baja since it is a safe area to have their babies and even to mate in the lagoons. Image made with Nikon D7000 using Nikon lens 18-200mm with lens setting of 24mm and and 1/400th second at ISO 400. Food is not as plentiful in the lagoon as in the colder waters of the far North. The Gray Whales travel a round trip from the far North to the Baja and back again covering approximately 2000 Km giving them the longest migration of any Mammal. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Cetartiodactyla unranked: Cetacea unranked: Mysticeti Family: Eschrichtiidae Genus: Eschrichtius Species:

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Size: 4928px × 3264px
Location: Saint Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California, Mexico
Photo credit: © Darius Wampler / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ., approaches, baby, baja, boat, gray, habituated, humans, interact, lagoons, mother, number, pacific, peninsula., petted, petted., side, small, watches., whale, whales