22 Gray Whales Found Dead on Washington Coast This Year

Washington state wildlife officials reported 22 gray whale strandings this year along the coast and in Puget Sound. The figure exceeds the number recorded at the same point in 2019, when the state documented a total of 35 strandings for the year.

Gray whales hold “sensitive” status in Washington, indicating they are considered vulnerable or declining. State data show the Eastern North Pacific stock numbered about 26,960 animals in 2016, while the Western North Pacific stock, listed as federally endangered, totaled 271 to 311 whales that year.

Necropsies conducted this year found malnutrition in most examined whales. Researchers from Cascadia Research Collective and NOAA Fisheries attribute the reduced food supply to changing Arctic conditions, including higher ocean acidity and temperatures that affect benthic invertebrates.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife states that additional threats include entanglement in fishing gear, ship strikes, and underwater noise. At least four of the stranded whales showed injuries consistent with ship strikes, and one displayed signs of recent entanglement.

Last Wednesday a male gray whale found near Bremerton exhibited both malnutrition and blunt-force trauma. NOAA Fisheries issued a community alert the same day after one or two malnourished whales were observed in Central Puget Sound.