Gray whales have baleen, but they prey on the critters on the ocean
floor. So, they swim sideways along the bottom, sucking up the sediments
and filtering out the goodies, like a giant vacuum cleaner. This form
of filter feeding is called bottom feeding.Fun Fact: Grey Whales are either righties or lefties when it comes to which side of the face is scraping along the bottom - it's always the same side! As a result, many have barnacles and other growths only on one side of their face, as they all get knocked off during feeding on their chosen side.
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| Photo Credit: UC Berkley |
You can see a Gray whale bottom feeding in this picture. Notice that it is sideways. It most likely always feeds in this orientation.
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| Photo credit: Scienceline.org |
Here you can see how there are more barnacles on one side than the other!
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