World Vets

Nineteen Gray whales have washed ashore in Washington over the last several weeks and more than 55 have stranded on the West Coast this year.  World Vets has been involved in the disease investigation and necropsies working with lead scientists from Cascadia Research Collective, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as well as other members of the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network.  The strandings already seen this year are the most of any year since the year 2000 and its still early in the whale migration season.  Most of the whales have shown signs of nutritional stress and poor body condition, although its still too early to fully understand the exact cause of the high death numbers.  Additional testing and evaluation of collected samples are pending and should provide more insight into these deaths.

Related Media Coverage:

Why are gray whales washing up dead on Pacific Northwest beaches– KUOW News

Cascadia and other Washington stranding network organizations continue to respond to growing number of dead whales along our coast and inside waters-Cascadia Research Collective