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Necropsy: Gray whale washed up on Fox Island likely died from vessel hit
Cascadia Research Collective and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) have determined the likely cause of death of a gray whale that washed up dead on Fox Island.
FOX ISLAND, Wash. - Cascadia Research Collective and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) have determined the likely cause of death of a gray whale that washed up dead on Fox Island.
A 41-foot male gray whale washed up on the shores of Fox Island in Gig Harbor on April 1. A day before, the whale was reported half-floating in south Puget Sound before it washed up, according to John Calambokidis a senior research biologist at Cascadia Collective.
It appears the whale had died several days before it washed up due to poor health conditions. It was last seen alive on March 27 in Mayo Cove.
Photo from Cascadia Research
Cascadia Research said an exam revealed that the whale had been killed by blunt-force trauma, likely caused by getting hit by a boat. Its poor nutritional condition likely contributed to the whale being in Puget Sound and also made it more vulnerable to getting hit by a boat, according to Cascadia Research.
Gray whale deaths in the eastern North Pacific range have increased since 2019, according to Cascadia Research. An Unusual Mortality Event was declared because of it, and many whales were also determined to be in "poor nutritional conditions."
"While the full reason behind the Unusual Mortality Event are not understood it does appear to be related to an increase in the gray whale population prior to the event and a decreased availability of prey creating nutritional deficiencies in a portion of the population," Cascadia Research wrote on its website.