Gray Whales Are Washing Up Dead on the West Coast. The Reason Is Alarming

Dead gray whales have been washing up on beaches all along the West Coast this year, from Mexico to Alaska. As of mid-August, 187 whales had been found dead in 2025 alone. Scientists are alarmed and are working hard to figure out why so many whales are dying. They believe the answer is connected to climate change and the loss of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.

The deaths are not new. Strange whale strandings began in December 2018, and in 2019 a government agency called NOAA declared an unusual mortality event, triggering a major investigation. Scientists rushed to study the dead whales, measuring their bodies, looking for injuries, and cutting them open to check their blubber and organs. Many of the whales showed signs of starvation, while others had injuries from being struck by boats.

The situation has only gotten worse. Gray whales lost 35 percent of their population between 2020 and 2025. At their peak in 2016, there were about 27,000 gray whales, but today scientists estimate only around 13,000 remain. One scientist described many of the dead whales as looking like 'a bag of bones.' This sharp drop is especially heartbreaking because gray whales were once seen as a conservation success story.

Gray whales had nearly been wiped out by hunting in the 1800s, but they made a strong comeback. By 1994, their numbers recovered to about 20,000 and they were removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List. Now the population is crashing again, and this time the cause is not hunting — it is a changing environment that is wiping out their food supply.

Gray whales are enormous animals, growing up to 49 feet long and weighing as much as 90,000 pounds — about as heavy as six large elephants. Every year, they make one of the longest migrations of any mammal on Earth, traveling about 10,000 miles round-trip between Mexico and the Arctic Ocean. They are bottom-feeders, scooping up mouthfuls of mud from the seafloor and filtering out tiny shrimp-like creatures called amphipods, which are their main food source.

The problem starts with Arctic sea ice. Algae grows beneath the ice, and when that algae dies, it sinks to the seafloor and feeds the amphipods that gray whales depend on. But the Arctic is warming fast, and sea ice is melting earlier each year. Less ice means less algae, which means fewer amphipods — and starving whales. A 2024 study found that the health of gray whales and the number of amphipods rise and fall almost in perfect sync.

Scientists are seeing the effects up close. Steven Swartz, a senior scientist who studies gray whales in Mexico, says he has watched more and more skinny whales arriving at their breeding area in San Ignacio Lagoon, along the Baja coast. He is also seeing far fewer babies being born — in 2014 about 1,600 calves were born, but in 2025 scientists estimated only about 85 calves survived, a dramatic and troubling drop.

There is some hope, as gray whales are showing signs that they can adapt to changing conditions. Some whales are already finding food in new places instead of always heading to the Arctic. A small group nicknamed the Sounders stops to feed in Puget Sound in Washington State, and another group skips the Arctic entirely and feeds off the coasts of California and British Columbia. Scientists have also spotted more gray whales exploring San Francisco Bay since 2018, likely searching for food.

Feeding in new places comes with serious risks, however. San Francisco Bay has heavy ship traffic, which is very dangerous for whales. A recent study found that at least 18 percent of gray whales that entered the Bay between 2018 and 2025 died there, many after being struck by ships. Researchers are now testing a system that uses artificial intelligence and heat-sensing cameras to help ships spot whales and avoid collisions, though the technology is still being developed.

Even if whales adapt their feeding habits, scientists say the real problem — climate change — must be tackled head-on. Researcher Joshua Stewart of Oregon State University put it plainly: the only real solution is slowing or reversing climate change, something the world knows it needs to do but has not yet done. As fall arrives and the whales begin their long journey south, scientists will be watching closely to count how many survive. Everyone hopes the population will stop falling soon, but right now no one knows if that will happen.