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WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. - Yet another dead gray whale has washed ashore on the Washington coast, marking the 19th case this year.
What we know:
The latest discovery was on the northern end of Whidbey Island, specifically Sunset Beach near Oak Harbor. The Island County Sheriff's Office posted about the dead whale Wednesday afternoon.
The NOAA Marine Mammal Stranding Network has been notified and will be responding to the latest whale death, according to the Island County Sheriff's Office.
Dig deeper:
Scientists are continuing to track an unusually high mortality event after a record-breaking 16 gray whales were found dead along Washington shores in April, surpassing the previous April record of 11 set in 2019.
Typically, most of the gray whale beachings occur during the months of April, May and June.
"At the end of April we were at 17, so it’s slightly encouraging that we’ve only added two and we’re almost halfway through May," said John Calambokidis, a senior research biologist with the Cascadia Research Collective. "So that is at least a slower pace than what we were getting in April."
Scientists believe many of the whales are arriving in poor condition, with starvation appearing to play a major role in the strandings.
Gray whale deaths timeline
Here's a timeline of gray whale deaths in Washington state in 2026:
March 2 – Offshore Copalis, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: Floating, no necropsy
March 21 – Olympic National Park near Toleak, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: External exam only, emaciated
March 28 – Taholah, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: Decomposed, no necropsy
April 1 – Raymond, Washington
- Sex: Uncomfirmed
- Comments: Malnutrition, out of habitat upriver
April 3 – Ocean Shores, Washington
- Sex: Female
- Comments: Malnutrition
April 6 – Anacortes, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: No Necropsy
April 11 – Moclips, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: Malnutrition, blunt force trauma
April 12 – Offshore Long Beach, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: Malnutrition, landed in Seaside, Oregon
April 17 – Sequim, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: Malnutrition, trauma
April 17 – Ocean Shores, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: Malnutrition
April 18 – Deception Pass, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: No necropsy, minimal samples collected
April 20 – Ocean Shores, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: Malnutrition
April 22 – Seaview, Washington
- Sex: Female
- Comments: Malnutrition, blunt force trauma, recent entanglement (no gear present)
April 26 – Ocean Shores, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: Decomposed, no necropsy
April 27 – Offshore Westport, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: Malnourished but less than others examined, no other findings. Landed in Grayland WA
April 28 – Grays Harbor, Washington
- Sex: Male
- Comments: Decomposed, no necropsy
May 8 – Long Beach Peninsula, Washington
- Sex: Female
- Comments: Malnutrition, probable trauma
May 13 – Offshore Whidbey Island, Washington
- Sex: Unknown
- Comments: Floating
A full working list of gray whale strandings in Washington in 2026 can be found on the Cascadia Research Collective website.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Cascadia Research Collective and previous FOX 13 Seattle reporting.