Gray whales are reputedly the most friendly, yet also the most aggressive, whale species. They inhabit shallow coastal waters, closer to land and to humans, than any other large whales, a characteristic which has made them too accessible to their greatest predator: man. Gray whales are the only whale species with two entire populations declared extinct and only one of those remaining is considered healthy. Jim Darling looks at the history and life cycle of these creatures and describes their massive migrations of some 5000 miles (the longest of any mammal). He also considers the remaining threats to their survival, resulting from their often conflicting relationship with humans.