Gray whales (Fig. 1), known scientifically as Eschrichtius robustus (Lilljeborg, 1861), were widely known as Balaena gibbosa in the eighteenth century, following Dudley’s visual descriptions in 1725 (Barnes & McLeod, 1984). The species was described as a “scrag whale” being closely related to fin-back whales displaying half a dozen knobs or knuckles in its back instead of a fin, and similar to right whales in appearance and oil yield, exhibiting white baleens not suitable for splitting.