California’s Gray Whales: Ripples of a Distressed Ecosystem
At roughly 90,000 pounds, the gray whale roams the shallow coastal waters of the North Pacific Ocean. This marine mammal usually migrates alone or in small pods, and their habitats range from the far western Pacific by east Asia, to the Arctic, and reproduce in the far east by Baja California. Their migration route is longer than any other mammal, travelling about ten thousand miles each year near the shore. The gray whales’ presence in oceanic ecosystems can be something to look upon in wonderment, for some live up to be eighty years old.
Commercial whaling pushed the North Pacific Gray Whale onto the Endangered Species List, though they were removed in 1996 after somewhat recovering with a population of 23,000. The species has gone down in numbers by 40% since 1998; subsequent efforts have not been made to protect them from rising threats in the last two decades.
The first week of April 2021 was a low point for the local whale population in the Bay Area. On April 1st, an adult female gray whale washed up on the shore of San Fransisco’s Crissy Field. An additional female was found on April 3rd on Moss Beach in San Mateo County, as well as a male found floating in the Berkeley Marina on April 6th. Only a day passed by when yet another adult female washed ashore on Muir Beach. Three out of the four individuals who tragically encountered the sands of California were female, which diminishes further means of reproduction in local waters.
The trend of stranded gray whales is increasing year to year. According to NOAA Fisheries spokeswoman Kate Goggin, 2020 had the highest average in 18 years. Hearing this news is no picnic, so we all wonder, “how can we work to prevent these casualties from being so frequent?”
First and foremost, the causes of these accidents must be comprehended. There is a reason why gray whales are so popular amongst ecotourism boats and whale watchers. They tend to gravitate towards ships, and while that behavior may boost our own economies, it is also their greatest downfall.
The necropsies that were performed on the recently found animals suggested that they experienced force trauma. The bodies had significant bruising and hemorrhaging around the jaw and neck, though specialists labeled them “in good condition” based on their intact rubber layer and fat levels. It has been inferred that two of the four whales previously mentioned were victims of ship entanglement.
It is still somewhat vague to researchers why these gray whale deaths have been coming in spurts rather than a continuous flow. The causes seem to vary case by case, but along with ocean traffic, climate change has played a significant role in this gray whale dilemma. Due to warmer water temperatures and a smaller prey food source, many of the species have suffered from malnutrition. There has been a rise of analyzed whales “in poor body condition”, suggesting that the ratio of whales dying from famine is climbing. As ice caps continue to melt, it is becoming more difficult for whales to find food, and their routes have stirred away from the Arctic and towards the U.S. coast, with swarming boats and poor water quality. It is alarming to note that the “washed-up whales represent just 10 percent of the total number of the dead”. What we witness on the shores is only a fraction of the tragedies occurring in the Pacific. The health of the gray whale population is reflective of what is happening to the rest of the marine world. They are good indicators, so understanding recent events is critical to get a full grasp of the other fatal mechanisms we can not see beyond the tides.
To add on, as human activities such as oil drilling and cargo shipment produce noise pollution in the Pacific, gray whales struggle to talk to each other. They communicate via low-frequency calls in clicks, growls, chirps, and bubble blasts. The chance of survival dwindles when a whale can not rely on calls to avoid predators and migrate in groups.
Altogether, gray whales play an important role in their communities. They are bottom feeders, meaning they scoop up large amounts of sediment on the seafloor including many small crustaceans. They help circulate nutrients throughout the depths of the ocean and support other species’ nutritional needs. Their negative population trend will most likely make their communities unstable.
The recent encounters on the Bay Area’s coast should serve as a wake-up call for our conservation efforts for gray whales. Minimizing whale bycatch in the fishing industry, reducing vessel strikes by changing shifting lanes, supporting responsible whale watching, and reducing anthropogenic noise pollution are all ways we can tackle the whales’ wide-range of threats. Our neighboring oceanic ecosystem is sending signals; it is our responsibility to not only react to these ripples of a greater issue, but respond to them with urgency.
