When a 14-ton, 38-foot-long gray whale washed ashore near Los Angeles, the observation from John Warner, chief executive of the Marine Mammal Care Center, that "it's nothing short of devastating" was an apt descriptor.
What's happening?
While 14 tons seems huge, it's pretty scrawny for this particular whale. According to the original story relayed by Phys.org, the whale was blanketed in whale lice and underweight. Signs of a run-in with some fishing lines and a post-mortem shark bite were also evident.
The original cause of death is still unknown. Regardless, this gray whale's death marks an unfortunate end to a partially fulfilled journey. It was probably in the middle of a breeding migration, which involved a circular journey of 14,000 miles.
It was likely famished (judging from its underweight status), thanks to an artificially elongated journey.
Why are whale deaths important?
It's important to understand that these whales make this massive, circuitous route once per year, and it's getting longer every time due to the effects of the overheating planet.
Their primary feeding grounds are located in the Arctic and when the ice caps are receding, they have to travel farther each time. The longer the trip, the more energy is expended, resulting in an emaciated whale.
Coupled with the increasingly effluent man-made toxins mixing with the sediment whales draw their feed from, it's not surprising to find a whale in this condition.
Whale deaths that are probably not natural are labeled with the acronym UME, or Unusual Mortality Event. From the late 1980s to 2023, three mass mortality events struck gray whales, resulting in nearly 700 deaths, according to Live Science. Most of these UMEs are attributed to rising Arctic sea levels.
This is just the tip of the iceberg (or lack of one). Humpback, minke, gray, and North Atlantic right whale UMEs are prevalent along America's coastlines.
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Yes — always 💯 What's being done about the whale deaths?
Fortunately, conservation efforts are underway, and scientists aren't just standing still. In 2019, NOAA Fisheries declared a gray whale mortality spike, which generated the necessary investigations. This also facilitated the expansion of stranding networks and public engagement.
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UMEs are managed within the framework of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, initiating response plans and state or federal-level regulation adjustments. All of these actions constitute a fraction of the available protection mechanisms.
Anyone can help by reporting sightings to the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program. You can also download the Whale Alert app on the Google Play Store or the App Store on an iOS device. Reducing single-use plastics and proper waste disposal also go a long way, as well as sending donations to the Marine Mammal Center.
According to John Warner, "Anything and everything we can learn is in service of helping the next set of animals hopefully avoid this fate."
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