Gray Whale seen in Mediterranean

The Gray Whale is thought to be extinct in the Atlantic Ocean so conservationists were surprised to find one off the coast of Israel in the Mediterranean.

There were once three major populations of Gray Whale - in both the Western and Eastern North Pacific Ocean, and in the North Atlantic. The North Atlantic Gray Whale went extinct sometime in the 17th or 18th Century for reasons that are unknown.

It's possible that a Pacific whale made its way to the med but conservationists hope that gray whales may have returned to former haunts in the western hemisphere.