38-foot gray whale washes ashore with orca bite marks as strandings surge in the Northwest

Concern about increasing whale strandings in the Pacific Northwest is growing after a 38-foot gray whale came ashore south of Newport, Oregon. 

The carcass drew circling vultures and a strong odor, and visible bite marks appeared to point to possible orca predation, as the Lincoln Chronicle reported.

What happened?

During a Tuesday examination near South Beach State Park, Marine Mammal Stranding Network program manager Jim Rice told the paper the whale showed evidence consistent with an attack.

"There are signs of killer whale predation," Rice informed the Lincoln Chronicle as he pointed to lacerations on the whale's flipper, jaw, and body.

Researchers hope samples of skin, blubber, and feces will reveal more about the whale's genetics, nutritional condition, stress levels, and possible exposure to neurotoxins. Rice collected those materials as a group of Oregon State University students looked on.

He added that baleen samples, if they become available later, could offer more clues about what the whale had been eating before its death. The adult male likely died weeks before the carcass reached shore, Rice noted to the Lincoln Chronicle.

In Washington, 27 gray whales have stranded this year, the paper reported, citing the Cascadia Research Collective. On the Oregon coast, this animal is the third gray whale found stranded on Lincoln and Lane county shores this spring, according to the Lincoln Chronicle.

It remains unclear whether Oregon State Parks will take any action on the carcass, the paper noted.

Why does it matter?

Because orcas usually target gray whale calves, Rice told the Lincoln Chronicle that an attack on a full-grown male could mean the animal was already in poor shape. 

That possibility would fit with a regional pattern of malnourished gray whales washing up after reduced feeding opportunities in the Arctic Ocean. The whales are also turning up in areas like San Francisco Bay.

The overall trend threatens to disrupt the ecosystem, as gray whales help capture carbon and provide nutrient-rich waste that sinks to the seafloor.

What are people saying?

Rice said the likely orca attack may still belong to the broader pattern of gray whale decline if the animal had already been in poor condition. The general pattern is unsettling, according to Rice.

"It's alarming to see so many gray whales washing up on our beaches," he told the Lincoln Chronicle.

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