Gray whale washes ashore in Huntington Beach
Another whale washed ashore in Huntington Beach on 4/11/25, this time a gray whale. In January of this year, a humpback whale washed ashore here in the same spot although not related. The humpback whale was thought to have been hit by a ship, showing obvious signs of an impact. However, this gray whale had no obvious signs of a ship strike and appeared to be a healthy looking whale. This large adult whale likely died very recently before she washed ashore. A necropsy team was able to examine the whale the following day and could not determine a cause of death although sample were taken which will be tested in a lab too look for any sort of toxins in the blood. It is very odd for a robust, healthy adult whale to just die so the likely factor is the continuing U.M.E. (unusual mortality event) which is causing lots of gray whales to die and the main concern is climate change which is affecting their feeding grounds.
Demoic Acid is also a major issue occurring right now which is causing the deaths of sea lions, pelicans, and common dolphin. This toxin can form naturally but is likely accelerated due to pollutants that are being discharged from rivers. The way these animals are getting sick is from consuming anchovies which eat the plankton that east the algae containing this toxin. It basically travels up the food chain. Gray whales do not eat anchovies and their only food source exists way up north in the arctic which means demoic acid is likely not a factor in this gray whales death and neither is the pollutants that are washing into the ocean after the fires since gray whales just pass by pretty quickly.
The declining of the gray whale population
Historically, the gray whales of the Eastern North Pacific had a population of up to around 100,000 individuals. There were also two other populations of gray whales but both those other populations were hunted to extinction. As for this population specifically, the discovery of oil in the ground and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 are the two main factors that saved these gray whales from going completely extinct.
Since the ban on whaling, gray whales have been able to recover much faster than many other species of whales and after being hunted, they hit their peak population at around 25,000 individuals in 2016. Since that peak, their population has been rapidly dropping each year and the current estimated population is around 15,000 individuals. These estimates are done by NOAA and several gray whale census groups along their migration route which count the whales passing by each season.
In 2016 and 2017, there were lots and lots of gray whale passing by the California Coast on their migration but most of them were skinny. These whales should be nice and fat when they migrate since they're living on that stored fat that they obtained while in their feeding ground in the arctic, especially on their southbound journey since they just recently left the feeding ground about 2 months prior. These gray whales will travel 12,000-14,000 miles every year from their feeding grounds to their breeding ground in Baja California which is the longest migration of any mammal on the planet.
While the exact reason for the decline in their population of course can't be pinpointed since they are whales who swim a lot and visit areas that humans just don't go but given the circumstances of more whales being skinny as the population grows, it's likely contributed to food availability. Gray whales eat amphipods which are shrimp-like creatures who really only exist underneath the sea ice, this is because the process for amphipods to breed and live is by consuming the algae that exists under the sea ice. As winter takes over each year, the sea ice expands and this whole process begins again as the gray whales migrate out of the arctic and down the Mexico. In the summer when the sea ice opens back up, there is an abundance of food for the gray whales when they return. Whale have to be able to surface for air so they can't actually live under the sea ice, the ice needs to retreat. With climate, even a one degree temperature change can create drastic changes for the sea ice and the entire process for gray whales accessing food.
While of course the climate changes naturally from year to year and over a long-term period, the human impact which is creating an acceleration of this is likely the most cause for these gray whales dying. Since these whales are not being hit by ships or anything else, the food availability seems to be key here. Maybe there's just not enough food anymore to sustain a population of ~25,000 gray whales. As of the time of this gray whales death, their population continues to decrease so it's unknown if this will continue or rebound at some point.
Down in Baja California, all three of their breeding lagoons are reporting lots of dead gray whales and an extremely low calf count. This is also very bad if the calf count is low because that means no population increase. Animals can do this naturally by not having calves due to environmental issues which also backs up the fact that there is just not enough food for them. The last few years, the breeding lagoons have experienced the same issue although this year seems the be the worst yet.