Grey whales are starving to death in the Pacific and scientists don’t know why
- Thirty-one dead grey whales have been spotted along the US west coast since January, the most for this time of year since 2000
- Death toll expected to climb through May as the animals continue their annual migration from Mexico to their icy feeding grounds in the Arctic
From Baja California to Puget Sound, scientists are seeing signs that grey whales are in distress. And they have no idea why.
Thirty-one dead grey whales have been spotted along the west coast of the US since January, the most for this time of year since 2000, when 86 whales died. Dozens more have shown visible signs of malnourishment, and sightings of mother-calf pairs are down sharply.
The grey whale death toll will probably climb through May as the animals continue their annual migration from their warm breeding lagoons in Mexico to their icy feeding grounds in the Arctic, said Justin Greenman, the assistant coordinator of stranded marine mammal response in California for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Experts said that, with about 27,000 grey whales thriving around the world, this year’s deaths probably do not present a serious threat to the species. But the casualties cannot be ignored, either.
“It’s not like we’re ringing the alarm bell that this population is threatened or at risk,” said John Calambokidis, a biologist and co-founder of Cascadia Research who tracks grey whales in Washington state. “As a researcher, I feel that you want to at least understand what is going on.”