Posted on 04/10/2021 7:59:23 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Four dead gray whales have washed ashore San Francisco Bay Area beaches in the last nine days and experts said Friday, April 9, 2021, one was struck by a ship. They were trying to determine how the other three died. "It's alarming to respond to four dead gray whales in just over a week because it really puts into perspective the current challenges faced by this species," says Dr. Pádraig Duignan, Director of Pathology at The Marine Mammal Center.(The Marine Mammal Center via AP) Four dead gray whales have washed ashore San Francisco Bay Area beaches in the last nine days, with experts saying Friday one was struck by a ship. They were trying to determine how the other three died.
"It's alarming to respond to four dead gray whales in just over a week because it really puts into perspective the current challenges faced by this species," says Dr. Pádraig Duignan, Director of Pathology at The Marine Mammal Center.
The carcass of a 41-foot (12.5 meter) adult female gray whale landed at San Francisco's Crissy Field on March 31. A second adult female was found last Saturday in Moss Beach in San Mateo County. A third was found Wednesday floating near the Berkeley Marina and the following day one washed up in Marin County's Muir Beach.
The whales migrate 10,000 miles (16,090 kilometers) to winter off Mexico's waters, where they mate and birth calves near the coast of Baja California. They head back north and stay off the coast of California in spring and summer to feed on anchovies, sardines and krill before continuing on their northerly migration to cool, food-rich Arctic waters.
In 2019, at least 13 dead whales washed ashore in the Bay Area and scientists said they feared it was because the animals were starving and couldn't complete their annual migration from Mexico to Alaska. Biologists have observed gray whales in poor body condition during their annual migration since 2019, when an "unusual mortality event" was declared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Four dead gray whales have washed ashore San Francisco Bay Area beaches in the last nine days and experts said Friday, April 9, 2021, one was struck by a ship. They were trying to determine how the other three died. "It's alarming to respond to four dead gray whales in just over a week because it really puts into perspective the current challenges faced by this species," says Dr. Pádraig Duignan, Director of Pathology at The Marine Mammal Center. (The Marine Mammal Center via AP) Malnutrition, entanglement in fishing gear, and trauma from ship strikes have been the most common causes of death found by the center's research team in recent years.
A necropsy of the whale found at Muir Beach revealed significant bruising and hemorrhaging to muscle around the whale's jaw and neck vertebrae consistent with blunt force trauma due to ship strike. But experts noted the whale was in good body condition based on the blubber layer and internal fat levels, the center said.
Experts haven't determined how the other three whales died or if starvation was behind their deaths.
Nearly one in four gray whales migrating along the U.S. West Coast has died since the last recorded population assessment in 2015 and 2016, according to NOAA.
"This many dead whales in a week is shocking, especially because these animals are the tip of the iceberg," said Kristen Monsell, legal director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Oceans program.
Four dead gray whales have washed ashore San Francisco Bay Area beaches in the last nine days and experts said Friday, April 9, 2021, one was struck by a ship. They were trying to determine how the other three died. "It's alarming to respond to four dead gray whales in just over a week because it really puts into perspective the current challenges faced by this species," says Dr. Pádraig Duignan, Director of Pathology at The Marine Mammal Center. (The Marine Mammal Center via AP) Experts estimate the washed-up whales represent just 10 percent of the total number of the dead, with the rest sinking into the sea unnoticed by humans.
Monsell said California lawmakers need to require fishing gear that doesn't use rope, and federal regulators should set mandatory speed limits for ships.
"Ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements kill many whales that we never see," she said.
Her organization is suing the federal government to get speed limits in shipping lanes off California, Monsell added.
I couldn't help but bite on that comment:
I bet they were antivaxers. Corrupt non scientific ballenas!
It’s all the raw sewage run off from SF’s sidewalks and streets
homosexual minority humpback whale ping!
Maybe a cocktail of radioactivity to go with the muck?
Probably COVID
That's what I thought the headline said.
Made perfect sense.
R.I.P. in any case.
Need photos.
Weigh them.
Check their stomach for plastic.
Check them for radioactivity.
#20. The only real and profitable solution for beached dead whales is to call all the local sushi chefs in the area and let them set up shop.
“You want fries with that”?
Oh boy, CA ramping up to go after the fishermen. They've always got someone in their sights to target.
Propellers must be flexible like freebies or nerf props. Breakaway fish line, so if the line is pulled on or jerked, it breaks, freeing the fish!
Fifth paragraph.
I know a guy that got a whale tangled in the haywire of his commercial salmon rigging. The whale got caught in stainless steel wire running from the boat, down to a lead cannonball. Boat lurches to a halt, and he said he could hear the whale screaming. Cost him thousands, and he’s sure the whale died. It’s not uncommon.
Could be. In Southern California when it rains, often all the beaches where these giant gutters empty out, they have to close down the entire beach due to all the toxic runoff.
Surf's up!
Screaming whales. There you go. In CA that should be enough to outlaw commercial fishing. If not, what’s a few dozen more laws and regulations.
Covid19, Global Warming and victims of racism
They probably took the vaccine. Hope someone starts yet another anti vaccine thread....
Yes, after 137,000 threads on the China virus, it would be nice to get a bit more information.
“Four dead gray whales have washed ashore San Francisco Bay Area beaches in the last nine days“
What kind of dirt did they have on Hillary ?
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