Good news for Gray whales in the North Pacific

"Unusual Mortality Event" declared over. 700 gray whales deaths were recorded off the coast from Mexico to Canada between 2019 and 2023. In a worrisome few years for the North Pacific gray whale population, hundreds washed up dead on shorelines along the West Coast leading to an estimated 30% decline in their population. During the years of the Unusual Mortality Event, 347 Gray whales were stranded along the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington; another 316 were reported in Mexico and 27 in Canada. The population numbers of the North Pacific Gray whale had declined during the Unusual Mortality Event, going from an estimated 20,500 whales in 2019 to 14,526 whales in 2023. Updated population numbers are expected to come out soon. Total calf production also declined, from around 950 calves counted in 2018 to an estimated 217 calves in 2022. In 2023, calf production increased slightly to 412 counted. Between 2018 to 2023 690 gray whales washed ashore from 2018 to 2023: 347 in the United States, 316 in Mexico and 27 in Canada.

Gray Whale

Below is a map of the North Pacific Meteor Airbursts from 2018 to 2022. One of these had the equivalent energy of 49 million kilograms of TNT. They ranged from the Arctic Circle to California.

NASA