Eschrichtius robustus (Lilljeborg 1860)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Cetacea, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 723-743 : 725

Eschrichtius robustus (Lilljeborg 1860)

[Balaenoptera] robusta Lilljeborg 1860 , Forh. Skand. Naturf. Ottende Mode, Kopenhagen, 1860 (8): 602.

Type Locality: Sweden, "på Gräsön i Roslagen"; "Benen lägo 840 fot frän hafsstranden, ungefär 12 à 15 fot öfver hafvets yta" (= Uppland, Graso Isl).

Vernacular Names: Gray Whale.

Synonyms: Eschrichtius gibbosus ( Erxleben 1777) ; Eschrichtius glaucus (Cope 1868) .

Distribution: North Pacific: warm temperate to arctic waters. Formerly present in the North Atlantic. Sometimes enters tropical water at the southern boundaries of its distribution; see Henderson (1990) for further details. The eastern and western North Pacific populations are separate. The eastern population is distributed from Baja California and the adjacent coast of Mexico to the Bering and Chukchi Seas. The western population is distributed from the East China Sea to the Sea of Okhotsk.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I; U.S. ESA – Endangered, except for Eastern North Pacific Ocean--coastal and Bering, Beaufort, and Chukchi Seas populations, which are listed as Delisted Taxa (recovered); IUCN – Critically Endangered (Northwest Pacific (Asian) stock), otherwise Lower Risk (cd).

Discussion: See Rice and Wolman (1971), Jones et al. (1984), and Wolman (1985).