Gray whale 'graveyard' growing along Washington coast
OCEAN SHORES, Wash. - What looks like an ordinary pile of driftwood at North Jetty Beach in Ocean Shores is covering something much larger buried beneath the sand, a dead gray whale.
"Most people will never know that they’re sitting on top of what locals would consider hallowed ground," said Marshall Read, Ocean Shores Lead City Planner.
Driftwood and sand covering a dead gray whale in Ocean Shores.
According to Read, the logs were temporarily removed so crews could bury the whale before being placed back over the site. He said future generations may one day uncover the remains.
"Generations from now there will be whale bones on the beach and people will wonder where they came from," said Read.
The whale stretches more than 30 feet long, according to Read.
"This is the fourth one on our little stretch of beach here in the seven-mile run of Ocean Shores," he pointed out.
Spike in gray whale deaths raises concerns
What they're saying:
Read said a handful of whale beachings each year is normal for the Washington coast, but the recent increase is alarming.
Since April, 18 gray whales have been discovered dead along the Washington coast.
(Cascadia Research Collective)
Read said the whale had originally washed ashore closer to the waterline before crews moved it farther up the beach to keep the remains from being disturbed by tides.
Crews used an excavator to drag the whale above the tide line because of its massive size.
Scientists believe many of the whales are arriving in poor condition, with starvation appearing to play a role in many of the strandings.
A historical reminder along the coast
The backstory:
Aberdeen city councilman John Shaw said the recent deaths are especially striking given the region’s history with whaling.
"Historically we’re sitting not very far from the last big American whaling operation that happened in Bay City less than a mile and a half away from here," said Shaw.
Shaw noted that gray whales were once hunted to near extinction during the late 1800s. Now, instead of being hunted, whales are washing ashore on their own.
"It’s an interesting historical cycle that we’re in right now where every whale is really important to people that we see out at the beach," remarked Shaw.
Gray whales were eventually given protection that allowed populations to recover after decades of commercial whaling. But the latest wave of strandings is renewing concern about the species’ future.
What's next:
Read said he hopes 2026 will ultimately be remembered as an unusually bad year, not the beginning of a worsening trend.
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The Source: Information in this story came from original FOX 13 Seattle reporting and interviews.