121 gray whales found dead on beaches, cause of death unknown [View all]
Something killed 121 gray whales this spring and summer, and scientists are struggling to find out what it was.
The dead giants of the ocean washed up on West Coast beaches as they finished their annual epic migration to their winter feeding grounds between Alaska and Russia. Many were emaciated and appeared to be starving.
The near-final death count, tallied this week, makes this the second-worst year on record for gray whales, which were hunted almost to extinction in the late 1800s. It could represent as much as 10% of the species' total population.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if our team comes across other carcasses,” said Megan Ferguson, a fisheries biologist with the Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
She and her team are flying aerial surveys out of Deadhorse, Alaska, observing whales in their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi seas.
“We’re taking photographs of the gray whales to assess their body condition,” she said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/121-gray-whales-found-dead-on-beaches-cause-of-death-unknown/ar-AAHup78?ocid=spartandhp
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