At 1200 h on 3 May 1973, at Hopkins Marine 

 Station in Pacific Grove, an adult and calf, closely 

 attended by two more adults, the four in very 

 close formation and almost touching, followed a 

 course identical with that of the animals seen 

 on 16 April 1970. They did not appear to stop 

 and nurse although there was much splashing and 

 rolling on their sides as they proceeded. 



In addition to these observations, L. G. Ingles 

 (1965:329) recorded an instance of nursing 

 behavior observed "early one April a few miles 

 south of Carmel." P. Sund of the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service reported (pers.commun.) 

 that on 23 January 1973, during aerial census- 

 ing of southbound gray whales, he observed an 

 adult with a small nursing calf just north of 

 Pt. Sur, Monterey County. This is the first 

 instance which has come to the attention of this 

 author, of a calf born north of San Diego, Calif. 



Hubbs (1959) in describing the northwar mi- 

 gration off southern California stated "the cows 

 with calves seem to take a more offshore path." 

 With the possible exception of the 1970 record, my 

 own observations suggest that females accom- 

 panied by calves keep very close to shore, often 

 moving through the outer fringes of the exten- 

 sive beds of giant kelps. In all of these observa- 

 tions the very close proximity of calves to 

 females when swimming was apparent. J. S. 

 Leatherwood (pers. commun.) indicated that his 

 aerial observations showed the calves "all nearly 

 touching the mother." 



Sexual Behavior of Courting and 

 Possibly of Mating Pairs and Trios 



Published reports of sexual activity in gray 

 whales outside the known calving areas in west- 

 ern Mexico were reviewed by Rice and Wolman 

 (1971:97). They are of a fragmentary nature and 

 include a single observation in Humboldt County 

 in northern California (Houck, 1962) and several 

 summer reports of courtship behavior and ap- 

 parent copulation from the Bering Sea (Tomilin, 

 1937; Sauer, 1963; Fay, 1963). In addition, Gil- 

 more (1960:12) stated that gray whales "occasion- 

 ally calve and more often mate in waters off San 

 Diego." The species bred in large numbers in San 

 Diego Bay until the 1870's (Gilmore, 1960). 



It would therefore seem worthwhile to indicate 

 that such activity is not unknown in the Monterey 

 Bay area of central California. It has been 

 observed during both the southbound and the 



return migration (See Table 1). 



In all cases the attention of the observer was 

 first drawn to these whales by behavior unlike 

 that of the normal activity of migrating whales. 

 The whales remained in one particular place for 

 long periods and frequently exposed flukes and 

 flippers in a manner not typically seen in actively 

 migrating individuals. 



Because Sauer ( 1963) provides the only detailed 

 published description of courtship behavior in this 

 species, I have used the same terminology in 

 the present account. After cessation of migratory 

 swimming, the whales remained for the most 

 part within a very small area, with one individual, 

 thought to be the 9 , proceeding to swim almost 

 imperceptibly, with an "exaggerated arching" 

 (Sauer's phrase) out of the water of the back and 

 caudal area. This was repeated several times, fol- 

 lowing which the S appeared to maneuver to get 

 beneath the 9 , by rolling on his side with one 

 flipper and half of the fluke raised vertically 

 above the water surface. After one or more 

 attempts in this manner, the "2 rolled around the 

 longitudinal axis" (Sauer's phrase) and in 

 apparent genital contact the whales proceeded to 

 "swim in line" (Sauer's phrase) for periods of up 

 to 30 s. In this position the left flipper of the <5 

 and the right flipper of the S , together with the 

 left half of the male's flukes and the right half 

 of that of the female were raised above the surface 

 as the two whales moved very slowly forward. 



The ? in the initial stages, and prior to rolling 

 around the longitudinal axis, often raised her head 

 from the water at a 35" angle. The swimming in 

 line sometimes began or ended with both animals 

 apparently in genital contact vertically in the 

 water column, both with their heads raised above 

 the water surface and some 3 — 4 m apart. 



The fact that this was copulatory behavior of 

 considerable intensity was apparent from the 

 erect penis of the male, which was clearly visible 

 on many occasions. When the 2 failed to roll on 

 her side, the S then appeared at the surface ven- 

 tral side uppermost with penis erect in an approxi- 

 mate semicircle. Gilmore (1954) illustrates this 

 posture. On one occasion (28 January 1971) while 

 the 6 swam in this way, the penis was seen to be 

 extruded and withdrawn. The sequence of events 

 leading to copulation was repeated as many as 

 three times within a 2-h period. 



It is of interest to note that on six of the eight 

 occasions on which courtship behavior was ob- 

 served, there were three whales involved. The 



616 



