The grey petrel was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin under the binomial name Procellaria cinerea.

[2] Gmelin's description was based on the "cinereous fulmar" that had been described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1785.

The birds produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus.

This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defence against predators and as an energy-rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.

[7] Finally, they also have a salt gland that is situated above the nasal passage and helps desalinate their bodies, due to the high amount of ocean water that they imbibe.

[9] Grey petrels return to their breeding grounds in February and March and build a burrow for a nest.

These burrows are on well-drained ground, often among Poa tussock grass, typically on steep terrain.

In 2001, brown rats were eradicated from Campbell Island, and in 2006, SEAFO tightened longline fishing regulations.