The gray whale population along the pacific coast of the US has been experiencing a heavy decline during the last five years. An approximated 6,000 whales have died since 2016, decreasing the population from the estimated 26,960 to only 20,580 at the end of 2020.
The decline is in line with the Unusual Mortality Event declared by NOAA Fisheries in 2019. During the last two years, at least 386 gray whales have been found along North Americas North Coast – way more than usual. NOAA assumes that whale deaths due to stranding amount to 4-13% of the overall death toll.
The situation is in line with a decrease two decades ago. Between 1999 and 2000, a similar unusual mortality event decreased the gray whale population by 23%.
NOAA Fisheries explains that the change “suggests that large-scale fluctuations of this nature are not rare”. “The observed declines in abundance appear to represent short-term events that have not resulted in any detectable longer-term impacts on the population.”
The full article can be found here: West Coast gray whale population declines 24%, NOAA says | The Sacramento Bee (sacbee.com)
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