Gray Whale Population Decline Along the West Coast Raises Alarm for Coastal Communities
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By Norris Comer, best4boats.
Three dead gray whales discovered in Washington state waters in a single week in early April have renewed concerns about a troubling decline in the East Pacific gray whale population. For boaters, whale watchers, and coastal communities along the West Coast, these deaths are part of a larger pattern that scientists are still working to fully explain — one that has seen the population drop from a historic high of over 25,000 whales around 2016 to roughly 13,000 today, the lowest estimate since the 1970s.
As Norris Comer reports for Best4Boats:
A young gray whale who briefly enjoyed the moniker “Willapa Willy” for swimming about 20 miles up the Willapa River of Washington state died April 4, igniting global coverage. The Cascadia Research Collective (CRC) and other observers noted that the whale appeared thin and malnourished, but uninjured.
This one strange, sad story of Willapa Willy would remain a curious anecdote if not for the nearby discovery of two more dead gray whales at Ocean Shores, a town about 20 miles north of the entrance to the Willapa River, on the same day. Both whales were in a starved condition not unlike Willapa Willy according to John Calambokidis of the CRC.
Scientists have labeled the recent population crash an Unusual Mortality Event, and the leading theory points to warming Arctic waters reducing the sea ice that supports the algae and amphipod food chain gray whales depend on. But as Comer notes, the questions are far from settled — including why malnourished whales are appearing during the spring northward migration rather than the fall return, and whether other factors like food scarcity from population booms or disease may be compounding the problem. NOAA data shows a strikingly similar population crash occurred in the early 1990s, suggesting these cycles may not be entirely unprecedented.
Read the full article here: Gray Whale West Coast Woes – An Evolving Mystery.
Originally published on April 8, 2026.
