Gray whale die-off pushes into second year. Can the giants survive?

Published by San Francisco Chronicle: January 9, 2021

A troubling die-off of gray whales along the Pacific Coast two years ago appears to have continued through 2020, raising concerns that the celebrated rebound of the ocean giants might not be a sure thing.

The whales, once hunted to near-extinction, are dying from a combination of killer whale attacks, ship strikes and starvation. Scientists aren’t certain why these perils have lined up to create a sharp spike in deaths, but they believe it’s tied to disruptions in ocean conditions wrought by climate change.

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