Alarming number of dead gray whales washing ashore leads to declaration of 'Unusual Mortality Event'

[Judi Lynn]

By LAYLAN CONNELLY | [e-mail] | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: May 31, 2019 at 4:59 pm | UPDATED: May 31, 2019 at 5:04 pm

Gray whales, this year, are washing up dead at an alarming rate — many starved and emaciated — on stretches of coast from Mexico to Alaska, with a large number of strandings along California’s coast.

With the hope that researchers can determine the cause of the increased fatalities, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Friday, May 31, declared an Unusual Mortality Event, the first time the species has been given the designation in nearly two decades.

The designation allows “a scientific investigation into the cause,” with researchers studying gray whale food sources, looking at photo documentation of where they are feeding, and monitoring changes in migration patterns.

To date, there have been 70 strandings along the West Coast of the United States, with another 73 reported in Mexico. The U.S. strandings are the most since 2000, when more than 100 whales were stranded in what was also deemed an Unusual Mortality Event, according to the NOAA.

More:
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2019/05/31/alarming-number-of-dead-gray-whales-washing-ashore-leads-to-declaration-of-unusual-mortality-event/