Grey whales like this one migrate up to 10,000 miles a year, from the warm waters of Baja California to their feeding grounds in the Bering Sea.
Photograph by Thomas P. Peschak, Nat Geo Image Collection
Beluga whales can move their heads around because they don't have fused neckbones like other whales do. They also have expressive faces, and their pale skin makes them more likely to show scarring.
Photograph by David Doubilet, Nat Geo Image Collection
Another view of a grey whale in Baja, Mexico.
Photograph by Thomas P Peschak, Nat Geo Image Collection
A right whale swims in waters off the Auckland Islands.
Photograph by Brian J. Skerry, Nat Geo Image Collection
In Monterey Bay, California, whales follow anchovies and eat gigantic mouthfuls of the fish.
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, Nat Geo Image Collection
A grey whale spy-hops in San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja, Mexico.
Photograph by Thomas P Peschak, Nat Geo Image Collection
Sperm whales dive as deep as 3,280 feet in search of squid. These graceful giants hold their breath for up to 90 minutes when making that dive.
Photograph by Flip Nicklin, Minden Pictures/Nat Geo Image Collection
It was long thought that beluga whales were shallow divers, but years of tracking them has found that they will dive up to 3,000 feet in search of food.
Photograph by David Doubilet
A bowhead whale surfaces from a dive at the edge of an ice floe.
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, Nat Geo Image Collection
