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Why Gray Whales Are Dying: Climate, Starvation, and Human Threats · How To Protect The Ocean

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  Great whales are dying along the Pacific
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  coast of North America
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  and people are asking why.
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  There are a lot of questions being asked.
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  We've got some of the answers.
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  We're going to talk about that on today's
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  episode of the How to
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  Protect the Ocean podcast.
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  Let's start the show.
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  Hey everybody, welcome back to another
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  exciting episode of the How
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  to Protect the Ocean podcast.
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  I'm your host, Andrew Llewelyn, and this
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  is the podcast where you
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  find out what's happening
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  with the ocean, how you can speak up for
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  the ocean, and what you
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  can do to live for a better
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  ocean by taking action.
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  In today's episode, we're going to be
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  talking about gray
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  whales and dying gray whales.
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  Unfortunately, between 2019 and 2023, the
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  unusual mortality
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  event, the UME was declared
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  for Eastern North Pacific gray whales.
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  During this period, approximately 690
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  whales were found
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  stranded from Alaska to Mexico.
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  Investigations by NOAA revealed that many
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  of these whales
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  suffered from malnutrition,
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  likely due to changes in the Arctic
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  feeding grounds leading
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  to decreased prey activity.
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  In 2025, the trend is continuing with
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  several gray whale deaths occurring in
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  San Francisco Bay area.
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  Necrophes indicate that some whales were
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  emaciated, means they are starving, while
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  others showed signs of ship strikes.
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  We've seen this before on the Atlantic
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  side of North America.
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  I'll talk about that in a second.
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  The increased presence of whales in the
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  bay, possibly searching for food, raising
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  concerns about vessel collisions.
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  Now you're probably thinking that these
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  whales are in dire need, just like
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  northern right whales on the
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  east coast of North America.
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  But despite these challenges that they're
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  facing with being emaciated and having
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  ship strikes, there
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  are still signs of hope.
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  NOAA reports 33% increase in gray whale
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  numbers, estimating around 19,260
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  individuals in 2024.
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  Up from 14,530 from the previous year.
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  That's a crazy increase. However, calf
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  production remains low, suggesting that
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  ongoing reproductive challenges.
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  We're still seeing challenges. This is
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  one of those cautionary tales where we're
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  seeing a perfectly fine
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  population with increasing numbers.
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  But we're starting to see a bit of a dip
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  in the calf numbers happening every year.
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  Now we compared that to North Atlantic
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  right whales and we're starting to know
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  where they're in dire need.
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  They're critically endangered under 100
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  reproductive females and we're starting
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  to see a little bit of calf activity
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  increase, but not much.
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  And we're seeing more years where you
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  were seeing catastrophic dying numbers
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  and the number just
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  continues to decrease and decrease.
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  I think overall population is under 400.
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  I think 390 was the last number I saw,
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  but don't quote me on that.
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  It's still going down. It's not trending
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  upwards and that's still a concern. The
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  gray whales on the other hand, the North
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  Pacific great whales are actually doing
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  pretty well from a population standpoint,
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  but we're seeing that decrease.
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  And with climate change rearing its ugly
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  head, this is a big problem and climate
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  change plays a
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  significant role in this crisis.
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  Melting sea ice disrupts the ecosystem
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  affecting the availability of amphipods,
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  a primary food source for gray whales.
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  Additionally, increased human activity
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  such as shipping and fishing post threats
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  through vessel strikes and entanglements.
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  Here's the lowdown with climate change
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  increasing, especially in
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  the Arctic with melting ice.
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  We're starting to see more ships go
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  through the Northwest Passage across
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  Canada, over Alaska, into the Pacific.
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  So you're actually having a connection
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  from the Atlantic to the Pacific, which
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  increases shipping, allows goods to be
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  shipped over that area that has people
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  have been wanting that for centuries.
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  I mean, back in the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s,
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  people were trying to pass through the
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  Northwest Passage, dying and having
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  catastrophic effects and results.
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  Now it's opening and it's open and ships
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  can actually go through there.
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  So we're going to see more of those ships
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  go through there where whales are not
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  used to seeing these ships come through.
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  Whales are not used to
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  fishing activities in these areas.
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  If that increases, there's going to be a
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  likelihood that the increase of ship
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  strikes and whale entanglement in fishing
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  gear will actually increase.
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  This is not a good thing for these
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  whales, which are used to having a
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  peaceful time in the sea ice or around
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  the sea ice and in colder waters in the
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  Arctic where they feed
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  during the summer months.
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  I've seen them feed.
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  They're amazing to watch in the waters.
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  Gray whales are obviously watched down in
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  Mexico and it's fun to watch.
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  People go up.
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  They come up to the boats.
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  People go up.
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  They try and touch them.
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  Never touch a whale, by the way, but it's
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  a very interactive ecotourism thing and
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  they go north in the summer to feed on
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  the amphipods and with lack of sea ice,
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  the amphipods who actually sit at the
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  bottom of the ice underneath like the sea
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  surface ice will actually sit there.
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  If that ice is melted, there's not going
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  to be any amphipods.
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  They're not protected by anything.
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  They're not going to be able to survive
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  and there's going to be less amphipods.
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  So less food means less whales or
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  emaciated whales like we're seeing here.
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  So we could be seeing a pattern that's
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  been growing and that we just haven't
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  been able to detect because we haven't
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  seen the amount of deaths
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  since our I guess before.
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  What was it?
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  I think I said 2020 2019.
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  So before covid we started to have a
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  population that was
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  fine that increased death.
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  Six hundred ninety individuals over four
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  years is huge and they were seeing more
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  in 2025 a bit of a break in 2024 but
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  seeing more in 2025 eventually is going
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  to affect the population.
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  The overall population.
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  We're not going to see these increases
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  like we've seen now.
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  We're going to actually see a stall of
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  that increase or at least of a shortening
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  of that increase and then it's going to
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  start to decrease or stay the same.
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  That's not good.
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  We want to see an increase.
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  We want to see this
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  happening more and more.
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  So there are ways that we can do
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  conservation and conservation efforts are
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  underway to mitigate these threats.
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  So the Coast Guard and ferry operators in
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  the San Francisco Bay Area are adjusting
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  routes issuing alerts to protect whales.
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  So they'll probably decrease
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  ship speed in certain areas.
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  They'll probably have more alerts and
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  more spotters more observers marine
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  mammal observers that are around
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  hopefully and of course public reporting
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  of whale sightings and strandings is
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  encouraged to aid in
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  the conservation efforts.
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  Now they're in the San Francisco Bay Area
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  because they're
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  probably looking for food.
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  There's not as much food out there.
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  They were seeing a decrease in amphipods
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  probably even their favorite foods along
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  their migration routes are probably
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  decreasing or changing may not decrease
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  but they may change.
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  And so the whales are adapting to a
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  changing ecosystem, which is what
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  scientists have been saying for decades
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  of what's going to happen when we have
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  climate change their food
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  source is going to change.
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  Therefore, everything is going to change.
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  We need to protect these gray whales.
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  They're a vital part of the ecosystem in
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  ways that sometimes we don't even realize
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  and they're a majestic
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  species and iconic species.
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  And we need to ensure that they are
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  continuing growing because back in the
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  day when we hunted whales as humans and
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  then we use it for oil. We use for fuel.
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  We pretty much decimated most of the
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  whale population. The IWC, the
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  International Whale Commission comes in.
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  They put protections. They put
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  moratoriums on whale hunting and then all
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  of a sudden the humpback whales, the gray
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  whales, they start to come back and with
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  less human activity.
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  The whales do well with more human
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  activities. The whales don't do as well.
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  And that's what we're starting to see
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  here. We're starting to see more human
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  activity in areas where we never saw as
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  much human activity
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  before, like in the Arctic.
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  Plus we're seeing lack of sea ice and the
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  melting of sea ice, meaning less food.
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  We're starting to see emaciated animals.
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  That's not good for reproductive
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  activity. That's not good for health
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  overall of the species.
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  So the plight of the gray whale is a
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  stark reminder of the interconnectedness
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  of these ecosystems and the impact of
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  human activities on the marine life. It's
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  just something that we see each and every
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  day. And unfortunately, it's now
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  impacting the growth of this population.
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  So continued research, of course,
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  continued conservation efforts and public
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  awareness are crucial to ensuring the
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  survival of these majestic creatures. We
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  need to protect these species. Now with
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  the decimation of staff in and along NOAA
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  is not going to help.
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  We need to increase monitoring. We need
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  to increase research activities. And to
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  do that, you could support your favorite
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  nonprofit organizations that are out to
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  protect the gray whales. They're out to
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  protect whales and do more research,
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  understand their plight. Look for
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  graduate students who are doing research
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  on looking at where the spots of where
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  they can feed more, where these gray
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  whales are going and how ship patterns
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  and shipping lanes might have to change
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  in the future just by the changing.
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  And so we're going to go back to North Atlantic. Remember on the east coast back
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  in 2017 we saw a change in the pattern of
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  the North Atlantic right whale. They
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  started to go more north. Where it was
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  warmer where there was warmer than it
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  used to be in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
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  But when they went into the Gulf of St.
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  Lawrence, we had ships that
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  are traveling at 20 knots.
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  Well, North Atlantic right whales don't
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  get out of the way very easily. They sit
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  right below the surface, making it hard
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  to detect for ships to slow down in time.
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  And then they end up getting hit by
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  ships. They also get entangled by, you
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  know, a lot of crab pots or lobster pots,
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  the fishing lines on those pots.
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  And so when they go into a new area and
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  that new area is not used to having North
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  Atlantic right whales, you start to see a
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  lot more deaths happen because they're
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  coming into new territory because of
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  climate change because it's warmer.
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  That's where their food is going.
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  So humans have to adapt. They have to
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  adapt faster than the whales because
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  that's the whales. That's their ocean.
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  That's where they go. They don't. It's
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  really hard to direct them anywhere
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  different. And so we start to see that
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  happen. We don't want to see that happen
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  long term for the gray whale. So we have
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  to adapt even faster. Luckily, it seems
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  people like the Coast Guard and ferry
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  operators are working together in the San
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  Francisco Bay area. That's an important
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  aspect that people want to protect these
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  whales. People are in a good area where
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  environmental protection is a problem.
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  And I think that's really important for
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  what we want for these gray whales. So
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  love to hear your thoughts on this. Do
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  you think this is the start of a dire
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  future for these gray whales? Or do you
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  think we can say them? Love to hear your
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  thoughts. Hit me up with a comment down
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  below if you're watching this on YouTube.
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  And of course, if you're listening to
• 9:46
  this on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your
• 9:48
  favorite podcast app, just let me know
• 9:50
  how you feel. You can hit me up on
• 9:52
  Instagram at how to protect the ocean.
• 9:54
  That's at how to protect the ocean. Or you can go to speak up for blue.com forward slash contact, fill out the contact form. Let me know your thoughts on this.
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  And I'll see you next time.