Thirteen dead whales have washed up on beaches since March.
OCEAN SHORES, Wash. — Biologists are sounding the alarm over the number of gray whales washing up dead along the Washington coast, with five discovered on Ocean Shores beaches alone this month and at least 13 found statewide since March.
John Calambokidis, research biologist and founder of the Cascadia Research Collective, said the mounting deaths have crossed a troubling threshold.
“It is heartbreaking. I used to say in recent years, you know, these deaths are worrisome, but they’re not yet alarming. Well, now they are alarming. They clearly got our attention,” Calambokidis said.
He said the record for whales discovered on the coast and within Puget Sound was set last year at 18.
Colambokidis said the peak season for whale deaths in Washington state typically runs through the end of June.
He said most of the whales discovered this spring have been males, who likely died of starvation.
Biologists attribute the crisis to climate change, which has dramatically reduced the whales’ food supply in Alaska and the Arctic Circle.
The timing of the deaths is particularly telling, as the animals are returning from winter breeding grounds in Mexico.
“This reflects that they did not get enough to feed last year, because these whales typically fast when they migrate down to their breeding grounds in Mexico that they’re on their way back from,” Calambokidis explained. “This is the period that is most stressful, if they didn’t get enough of a reserve. That’s when they’re not making it.”
Visitors from Spokane, Zach Rose and his fiancée Mariah Scroggins, who stumbled upon one of the whales were disturbed.
“It breaks my heart so much to have been able to immediately recognize there was something wrong with it,” Scroggins said.
Authorities are urging anyone who discovers a whale on the coast not to touch it, but to contact authorities immediately so biologists can investigate.
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