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Gray Whale death tolls mount

© Matt Villano

As of last week, more than 65 dead gray whales have been reported dead along the Mexican coast so far this year, with possibly as many as 32 in California, 7 in British Columbia, and as many as 18 in Washington. In addition, the number of whale calves migrating north this spring is the lowest ever recorded. While some scientists speculate that the poor nutritional condition of these dead whales indicates that the population may exceed the food available in the Bering Sea causing the whales to starve, others consider the mortality natural.

In Washington, scientists say they are curious, but not alarmed, about the number of dead whales washing up on Northwest beaches this year. Just two weeks after the controversial Makah hunt at Neah Bay, the issue came home to Seattle last weekend when the carcass of a 27-foot gray whale showed up on the beach just south of Alki Point. Since then four more have washed up on Washington beaches, bringing the total to 18 -- the largest toll since the mid-1980s. To some animal-rights activists, the timing is suspicious. Two weeks ago, they suggested the Makah whaling crew was responsible for a whale that washed up on the Washington coast south of Neah Bay. Scientists, however, said the whale appeared to have been dead for many days - long before the Makah hunt. Now, whale experts are taking samples from as many animals as possible; they doubt there is any connection to the hunt. "We see beached whales every year," cautioned John Ford, marine mammal researcher at the Vancouver (B.C.) Aquarium. "The number varies, and this year's mortality may be unprecedented. And I think there's reason to be concerned." Several whales have shown up on B.C. beaches, Ford said, including two in the area of Sooke, just west of Victoria. And many more may be washing up along the thinly populated coasts of Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlottes. "There appears to be a pattern," said Brian Gorman, spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle. "The whales are, in a word, emaciated." The most likely explanation is that they are starving to death, he said. If so, it may be part of a natural process. Gray whales are distinguished by their unusually long, annual migrations between their summertime haunts in the Bering Sea and their winter quarters on the coast of Baja, Mexico. Up north, they feed voraciously. In the fall, the whales begin their 4,000-mile migration down the coast. Scientists think they eat little or nothing along the way, living off stored body fat for several months until they return to the Bering Sea.

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