California grays among the ice. The gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. Gray whales were once called devil fish because of their fighting behavior when hunted. The gray whale is the sole living species in the genus Eschrichtius, which in turn is the sole living genus in the family Eschrichtiidae. Whaling is the hunting of whales primarily for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Industrial whaling emerged with organized fleets in the 17th century; competitive national whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the introduction of factory ships along with the concept of whale harvesting in the first half of the 20th century. As technology increased and demand for the resources remained, catches far exceeded the sustainable limit for whale stocks. In the late 1930s, more than 50,000 whales were killed annually and by the middle of the century whale stocks were not being replenished. In 1986, the IWC banned commercial whaling so that stocks might recover. The Marine Mammals of the North-western Coast of North America" by Charles Melville Scammon, 1874.