San Francisco Chronicle: Gray Whale Die-off Pushes into Second Year. Can the Giants Survive?
- Malnutrition
- Species conservation
- Pathology
- Climate change
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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