Eastern North Pacific (ENP) gray whales have experienced elevated mortality, declining abundance, and low calf production since 2019. We present some of the ways sightings and strandings in Washington can offer insight into the nature, timing, and potential cause of this crisis, as well as how gray whales are attempting to adapt. Almost 50 years of gray whale stranding records in Washington provides one of best long-term indicators of increased mortality, with elevated number of deaths recorded in 1990-1991, 1999-2000, and 2019-2026. The recent decline has been the most protracted and has involved the largest number of whales, with no sign of recovery. One longstudied subgroup, the “Sounders”, have returned annually to northern Puget Sound since 1990, typically staying for 2-3 months each spring. Their numbers increased from an initial 6 individuals to 12 individuals during the 1999-2000 unusual mortality event (UME), and to 18 in recent years. Sounders showed very little mortality over the first 30 years of monitoring, including through the 1999-2000 UME. In each of the last 5 years, 3-5 whales (8 individuals) have arrived in late December/early January and stayed through late spring, foregoing the migration to winter breeding grounds in Mexico. Another subgroup, the Pacific Coast Feeding Group (PCFG), feeds through the summer/fall in the Pacific Northwest (foregoing migrating to the Arctic), and similar to the Sounders, has not shown comparable declines. The primary or supplemental feeding in the Pacific Northwest further supports findings that the declines are related to changes in their Arctic feeding grounds. Gray whale sightings in Washington in 2025/2026 have also been unusual; with several concentrations observed in areas they are not typically seen. Our observations indicate gray whales are seeking alternate feeding areas to supplement prey loss in the Arctic, sometimes successfully and other times not.
Citation:
John Calambokidis, J., Huggins, J., Clayton, H., Perez, A., Vanderzee, A., Dobson, E., Harris, J., Mahoney, P., and Fearnach, H. 2026. Gray whale sightings and strandings in Washington State reveal the Eastern North Pacific population is in trouble and the ways gray whales are adapting. Poster presented at the Range-wide Gray Whale Science Symposium, coordinated by the Marine Mammal Commission and hosted by the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center, Newport, Oregon, September 9-10, 2026
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