In recent years, eastern gray whales have seen a significant decline in their population. Every year, they migrate along the West Coast between the Arctic and Mexico.
So far, in 2026, 145 whales have washed up dead or died along the West Coast of North America, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries.
Last year, 179 gray whales were found dead. Furthermore, between 2019 and 2023, the marine mammals faced 690 strandings and lower birth rates. Conservationists say that 2026 could be one of the deadliest years on record for the large animals.
They also think that the death toll for this year is actually much higher than what has been calculated now, since carcasses tend to sink to the bottom of the sea. The dead whales that wash ashore account for about 10% of the whales that are dying.
There are two populations of gray whales living in the North Pacific Ocean. One group mainly occupies the waters near East Asia and Russia, while the other lives along the West Coast of North America. The latter group is known as the eastern population.
The eastern population makes an annual round-trip journey of roughly 10,000 miles between the Arctic and the waters off Baja California, Mexico. During this time, they feed on crustaceans and give birth to their calves.
However, climate change has been depleting their food sources, and many of the whales are starving. The eastern population has declined to about 13,000 individuals in 2025, compared to 27,000 in 2016.
The last time their population got this low was in the 1970s. Gray whales came close to extinction back then, but conservation efforts helped them rebound, and they were removed from the U.S. federal endangered species list in 1994.
With the current climate crisis hitting their food supply hard, it is believed that some hungry whales have been desperate enough to venture into busy places like San Francisco Bay, where they’re being struck by ships and getting entangled in fishing gear.
Conservationists are hopeful that gray whales may be able to shift their diets to maximize their survival. More and more whales have been observed in coastal waters near Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska. It’s possible the animals are searching for new food sources there.
Although the whales have been incredibly resilient in the past, experts are still concerned that the creatures won’t be able to adapt quickly enough to current conditions.
“The environment may now be changing at a pace or in ways that are testing the time-honored ability of the population to rapidly rebound while it adjusts to a new ecological regime,” said David Weller, the director of the Marine Mammal and Turtle Division at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center.
Environmental groups have been calling on the federal government to re-list the gray whale under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
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By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
