Great Southern Reef - Central Coast

Just devastating!

A catastrophic mortality event has been declared. Over 145 whale carcasses washed ashore on the U.S. West Coast in 2026, signaling a devastating population collapse driven by climate change and starvation.

Marine researchers and conservation groups have sounded a major alarm over the rapid decline of the Pacific gray whale, declaring a "catastrophic mortality event" as dead whales wash ashore along the North American West Coast at unprecedented rates.

So far in 2026, at least 145 gray whale carcasses have been documented on beaches from California to Alaska—a figure scientists warn is only a fraction of the actual death toll since most deceased whales sink to the ocean floor.

The species' total population has plummeted from an estimated 20,000 in 2019 to fewer than 13,000 today, erasing decades of hard-won conservation gains and putting the species in what experts call a "freefall."

The primary driver behind this devastating die-off is widespread starvation. Rapidly warming ocean waters and melting Arctic sea ice have disrupted the marine food web, severely depleting the nutrient-rich, bottom-dwelling crustaceans that gray whales rely on to build critical fat reserves during summer feeding seasons.

Compounded by vessel strikes, toxic algal blooms, and microplastic pollution, the scale of the crisis has prompted environmental organizations to petition the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to immediately relist the gray whale as endangered. Without decisive regulatory protections and urgent climate action, scientists fear the Pacific's most iconic migratory giants face an irreversible decline.

source: Perkins, T. (2026). Pacific gray whales facing 'catastrophic' die-off as climate crisis hits food supply. The Guardian.