"At least 70 whales have perished since the start of the year in the shallow lagoons of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula where the animals gather to calf, nurse and breed. Three gray whales have died in San Francisco Bay recently during their migration north, with one showing signs of malnourishment."
"Gray whales are dying in large numbers, again.
At least 70 whales have perished since the start of the year in the shallow, protected lagoons of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula where the animals have congregated for eons to calf, nurse and breed, said Steven Swartz, a marine scientist who has studied gray whales since 1977. And only five mother-calf pairs were identified in Laguna San Ignacio, where most of the wintering whales tend to congregate, Swartz said.
That’s the lowest number of mother-calf pairs ever observed in the lagoon, according to annual reports from Gray Whale Research in Mexico, an international team of researchers — co-founded by Swartz — that has been observing gray whales in Laguna San Ignacio since the late 1970s.
The whales are now headed north. In just the last two weeks, three gray whales have died in San Francisco Bay, one of which was described by veterinarians and pathologists at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito as skinny and malnutritioned. Evaluations on the two other deaths are still being conducted."
Susanne Rust reports for the Los Angeles Times April 8, 2025.
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