Two more dead gray whales have washed up on Washington beaches, a troubling development that is drawing renewed attention to a larger crisis unfolding along the Pacific coast.
Troublingly, 25 gray whales have now been found dead in Washington alone this year, KIRO 7 News reported.
One of the latest whale deaths was recorded near Kalaloch in Olympic National Park, and the other was found on the coast of Ocean Park.
The Cascadia Research Collective said the whale found near Kalaloch was discovered roughly 18 miles south of a recent stranding near Strawberry Point. Experts have said the deaths are part of a broader regional pattern.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, cited by KIRO 7, at least 51 gray whales had died along the West Coast in 2026 as of May 28, including eight in Oregon.
Gray whales travel north each spring from warmer southern waters to feeding grounds in Alaska. Marine biologists said that many of the animals washing ashore appear to have been severely malnourished before they died.
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Scientists are increasingly linking the whales' poor condition to shrinking food supplies in Alaska and the Arctic. Some of these whales may be burning through their stored energy before they can reach the places where they normally feed.
Research has suggested that rising ocean temperatures are causing staple whale prey, such as krill and other creatures, to relocate. A single whale consumes roughly 800 pounds of these organisms every day.
When populations move or decline, it can put larger ecosystems and animals like the gray whale at risk.
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