Hopeful signs for gray whales along West Coast

Examination of two strandings in Ocean Shores reveals whales were malnourished

Amanda Zhou

Seattle Times staff reporter

The gray whale population along the West Coast showed another year of declines, according to the latest estimates, but scientists say there are some positive signs for the formerly endangered whales.

The population of the eastern north Pacific Gray whale has been sliding downward since reaching a peak in 2016 with an estimated 26,960 whales. This year, scientists put the estimate at 14,526 whales. The estimate is based on counts of migrating whales off the Central California coast and statistical analyses.

In 2019, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared a population dieoff as an “unusual mortality event.” While the cause isn’t clear, researchers theorized the decline is partially related to changes to food sources in the Arctic, where the whales spend the summer.

Three dead gray whales found along Washington shores last month, including on the beaches of Ocean Shores, showed signs of malnutrition, according

to the Cascadia Research Collective.

Ocean Shores whales

In the second half of June, Cascadia Research and other members of the Marine Mammal Standing Network examined three dead gray whales in Washington. Preliminary results indicate malnutrition significantly contributed to the mortality in all three cases, consistent with findings in many other stranded grays in Washington waters in recent years.

Recent strandings included:

■ A 42-foot female that was reported floating in Olympia on June 20. This whale, first sighted alive but in poor body condition in mid-April in Bremerton, had spent several weeks in southern Puget Sound and was last seen swimming in Totten Inlet near Olympia on June 17. With assistance from Taylor Shellfish, the carcass was towed to a suitable site for a necropsy to be conducted by biologists and volunteers from Cascadia Research and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. As expected based on the body condition observed over the many weeks of monitoring, primary findings were poor blubber condition, lack of internal fat stores, and no food in the tract. There was no evidence of killer whale predation or vessel collision.

■ A 39-foot adult male that washed ashore dead in Ocean



■ Shores and was examined by Cascadia Research and World Vets with assistance from volunteers. This animal also had poor blubber condition, no internal fat stores and no stomach contents. There were some internal indications of trauma, but the extent and severity of the injury could not be determined due to the position of the body.

On June 28, Cascadia and WDFW conducted an examination of the small gray whale. The whale had initially stranded alive on June 27 and was kept wet by local volunteers before it died early that afternoon as a larger team was being organized. The whale was just under 27-feet and was likely a yearling or small juvenile animal. Like the others, she was extremely emaciated. She also had injuries of an apparent recent entanglement but was not entangled when she came ashore.

Samples from all animals will be analyzed over the coming weeks and months and may provide additional insights into these mortalities. The poor nutritional condition seen in these whales has been documented in many others that have stranded in Washington during the ongoing Unusual Mortality Event, the overall cause of which is still under investigation. These three most recent strandings bring the total in Washington state for the month of June to five whales, and a year-to-date total of 13. This is above our annual average but much lower than the first year of the Unusual Mortality Event (2019), when 34 dead gray whales were documented.

Signs of hope

There are signs of hope for the intrepid species, which migrates nearly 10,000 miles between the Arctic and Mexico. In winter, when the whales spend their time in lagoons, scientists counted more mothers with calves in 2023 than any of the past five years.

Researchers also observed that the conditions of their bodies have improved and that fewer dead gray whales have washed ashore in Mexico and along the West Coast since 2019.

All these signs lead researchers to believe “the gray whale mortality event may be slowing,” said Autonomous University of Baja California Sur professor Jorge Urbán Ramírez, who studies the species.

NOAA’s Marine Mammal and Turtle Division Director David Weller said the administration will continue to keep a close eye on the whales.

“We want to pick up on any signs or signals of a positive change in the concerning trend the population has undergone recently,” Weller said.

The eastern north Pacific gray whale is considered a conservation success story because their population has grown consistently after they were protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972.



WHALES from page A1 to A4

A gray whale is examined on June 28 in Ocean Shores. JESSIE HUGGINS / CASCADIA RESEARCH

They neared extinction in the 1950s due to commercial hunting. In 1964, the species numbered 13,426.

Researchers say a small group of gray whales that stop in Puget Sound on their annual migration, known as “the Sounders,” have been known to teach themselves how to feed on ghost shrimp burrowed in mud flats, often in shallow near-shore waters.

The eastern north Pacific gray whale was removed from the endangered species list in 1994. Since then, similarly large fluctuations in this whale population has occurred before and the species has recovered from similarly small numbers.

Looking at the numbers, the whales hit a peak population in 2016 and then had a die off from mal nutrition and are back to just above their 1960 population. Their life cycle is about 50 to 60 years, so one would think the numbers would be much higher than what they got too. Just a guess, but I have a feeling that their maximum sustainable number must be somewhere between the 13426 in 1960 and the 26960 in 2016. If they could sustain higher numbers, one would think that being protected their number would have more than doubled in 56 years.

There seems to be a problem in the Bering Sea with increased temperatures reducing the benthic invertebrates they eat. Hence, malnutrition. The Grays eat all summer but consume little food on the breeding grounds in Mexico so less food up there is an issue.

Further, if the population is to remain stable and a female produces 10 calves over the course of her breeding years only two (20%) need to survive for stability. That would be 80% loss.

It will be interesting to see if they invade the Arctic Ocean and move east to the Atlantic where they would recolonize following extirpation in the 15-1600s.

Inseason Actions #19 in Non-Tribal Ocean Salmon Fisheries, Recreational (Westport subarea)

NOAA Fisheries has taken inseason action in the 2023 non-tribal recreational salmon fisheries north of Cape Falcon.

• Effective Friday, July 28, 2023, at 12:01 a.m. for the recreational salmon fishery from the Queets River to Leadbetter Point (Marine Area 2 - Westport subarea), retention of Chinook salmon is prohibited on Fridays and Saturdays. Possession of Chinook salmon is illegal when retention is prohibited in the area.

All preseason regulations remain in place.



Please refer to the Final Rule for the West Coast Salmon Fisheries 2023 Specifications and Management Measures for additional regulations and supporting materials.