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The Independent
5 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Mystery as six gray whales found dead after unusually high influx into San Francisco Bay
Six gray whales have died in the San Francisco Bay Area region in the last week, officials have said. With the additional deaths, the total number of stranded whales this year has reached 15. Of those, 14 are gray whales, according to the California Academy of Sciences and partners at The Marine Mammal Center. 'In 2025, 14 gray whales and one minke whale have died in the greater San Francisco Bay Area region, with the cause of three of the gray whale deaths determined to be suspect or probable vessel strikes,' the academy wrote in a press release Thursday. 'The Academy and partners at the Center have not responded to this many dead gray whales since the height of the Unusual Mortality Event in 2019 (14 individuals) and 2021 (15 individuals).' However, the cause of the deaths of the other whales who died between May 21 and Wednesday are undetermined. Those animals died in multiple locations, including Berkeley, Point Reyes National Seashore, and Alcatraz. 'Necropsy response efforts and data collection have been challenging for a number of cases due to inaccessible locations that hinder full post-mortem investigations, as well as poor tissue quality from advanced decomposition, and the lack of available locations to tow for further investigation,' the academy noted. However, there have also been an unusually high number of sightings around the bay, including 33 individual gray whales. That's more than five times the number of whales that were sighted last year. Of those, approximately one-third have stayed in the Bay Area for at least 20 days, some of which were emaciated. Researchers are still working to determine what's driving the massive spike in sightings, and it is expected that gray whales will remain in the area for another one or two weeks before continuing their annual northern migration to feeding grounds in the Arctic. Dozens of gray whales have died along Mexico's Baja California peninsula since the year's start, and only five mother and calf pairs were identified in Laguna San Ignacio, where wintering whales gather. One of the main causes of death for whales on both coasts are vessel strikes, and the academy and the center pointed out gray whales can be even tougher to spot in the water than humpbacks and other coastal whales. To reduce the risk, they've altered ferry lanes based on sighting data and increased communication via the U.S. Coast Guard, so boaters can be 'whale aware.' If people do see a whale in the bay, they can report the sighting using the Whale Alert app, and people who find dead marine mammals are asked to contact the Academy's department of Ornithology and Mammalogy.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Six dead gray whales found in San Francisco Bay area in the last week
Six dead gray whales have been found in the area of San Francisco Bay over the last week, officials said Wednesday, in a year when there has been an unusually high number of sightings in the area. The gray whales were found dead from May 21 to Wednesday, when one was found washed ashore at Point Reyes National Seashore, the California Academy of Sciences said. On Monday, two were found the same day — one on Alcatraz and one at Point Bonita, it said. In most of the cases, no necropsy, which is like an autopsy for an animal, was performed. The partial necropsy for a yearling gray whale found at Bolinas was inconclusive, and results from the necropsy on the whale found Wednesday are pending, the academy said. The whales have died as an unusually large number of them have been spotted in San Francisco Bay, officials said. Why the whales died was not clear. 'That is the open question, the why,' Giancarlo Rulli, a spokesperson for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, told NBC Bay Area this week. 'Why not only are there so many deceased whales in the region, but why has it been a banner year of having more sightings in San Francisco Bay of live whales than we have seen in at least two-plus decades, if ever?' So far this year 14 gray whales and a minke whale have died in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, the academy said, and the deaths of three of them were found to be from boat strikes. More gray whales have been sighted in the bay this year compared with last, it said — 33, compared with only six in 2024. Some have looked normal and others emaciated, it said. "The reason or potential reasons behind the massive spike in sightings this year are still being investigated by researchers," the academy said. "It is expected that gray whales will be in the bay for another one to two weeks before continuing their annual northern migration to arctic feeding grounds." Gray whales used to be common in waters throughout the Northern Hemisphere but are now regularly found only in the North Pacific Ocean, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They travel around 10,000 miles in an annual round-trip migration, it said. Gray whales are known to be curious around boats, which means they are often seen on whale-watching trips, the agency said. They can grow to around 49 feet long and weigh about 90,000 pounds. Because of the long migration, the whales are sometimes hit by vessels and entangled in fishing gear, which are among their top threats, the fisheries service says. This article was originally published on
CBS News
7 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Five dead gray whales were found in the Bay Area in one week, Marine Mammal Center confirms
Five whales found dead in the Bay Area in less than a week Five whales found dead in the Bay Area in less than a week Five whales found dead in the Bay Area in less than a week Five gray whales have died in Bay Area waters between May 21 and May 26, 2025. May 26, 2025: Suspected gray whale, Alcatraz; cause of death: undetermined (no necropsy performed) May 26, 2025: Gray whale, Point Bonita; cause of death: undetermined (no necropsy performed) May 22, 2025: Subadult female gray whale, Berkeley; cause of death: undetermined (no necropsy performed) May 22, 2025: Gray whale, Fisherman's Bay, Southeast Farallon Island; cause of death: undetermined (no necropsy performed) May 21, 2025: Yearling gray whale, Bolinas; cause of death: undetermined (partial necropsy conducted on May 23, inconclusive) Source: California Academy of Sciences California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences said this brings the total number of dead whales found in the Bay Area in 2025 to fourteen. At least three of them were killed by vessel strikes. They said have not responded to this many whale deaths since the unusual mortality event of 2019. Scientists with the Marine Mammal Center and California Academy of Sciences have not determined what killed the whales the five recently found whales. According to the Mammal Center's Cetacean Conservation Biology Team, there have been 33 individual gray whales spotted in the Bay Area in 2025. The center said that is up from the four gray whales that were sighted in 2024.
CBS News
16-05-2025
- Science
- CBS News
San Francisco beats Los Angeles in international City Nature Challenge
Each winter in the town of Princeton-by-the-Sea, south of San Francisco and off the coast of Pillar Point, the massive waves at the legendary Mavericks draw elite surfers from around the world. But what lies hidden beneath these cold waters, where the land meets the Pacific Ocean, is equally jaw-dropping. Seen only at low tide, it's a whole different kind of world teeming with treasure and life. "This place is one of the places that you can come at low tide, and you can see the greatest diversity of life," said Professor Rebecca Johnson. Dr. Johnson is the director of biodiversity and community science at the California Academy of Sciences. Jessica Carver is the associate manager of community service and works with Dr. Johnson at the academy. "Every time is so amazing. It's always so different," Carver remarked as she surveyed the massive reef, with multiple tide pools. Recently, at the crack of dawn, a group including Johnson, Carver, and volunteer community scientist Kristi Brakken gathered in the parking lot at Mavericks Beach to document wildlife and participate in the City Nature Challenge. Joining Brakken was her daughter, Kelly. The City Nature Challenge began 10 years ago as a friendly competition between two cities: San Francisco and Los Angeles. Today, it's an international event that involves almost 670 cities and metro areas across six continents. Johnson is a co-founder. The idea is that volunteers around the world photograph as many wild plants and animals as possible in their own communities, on four designated days. "People have made over seven million observations of nature. This gives us an ongoing annual census of where species are across the globe," Johnson explained. She called the location at Mavericks "magical." "You can see this huge diversity of things: you can see seaweeds, crabs, shrimps, sponges, anemones," she said. There's a lot to look at: 650 different species live in the tide pools alone, including ochre sea stars, crabs, California mussels, and all kinds of barnacles and seaweed. But perhaps the most mesmerizing find is the vibrantly colored creatures known as nudibranchs. "This place is an amazing hot spot for diversity," noted Olivia VanDamme, a community science coordinator with the academy. Kelly came to catch and glimpse and was not disappointed. "This officially has made the trip worthwhile," she said as she pointed at one tiny nudibranch and laughed. Kelly Brakken Armed with smartphones, the team snapped pictures of all the wildlife they saw. On their phones, they downloaded a free special app known as iNaturalist. The app allows all the participants to record their observations. The program identified the species and then tallied and shared their findings with all involved in the challenge. The data is important for scientists who study long-term trends. "It's like an early warning system, often in what is going on in these very delicate ecosystems," Lizzy Edson explained. Edson is the biodiversity data manager for the Center of Biodiversity Sciences at the academy and also works with Johnson. After a few hours, the team noticed the rising tides and realized it was time to wrap up their observations and leave. The Brakkens left with a new appreciation. "With the current changing climate, we don't know how long we'll have the ability to see these creatures and see them prospering unless we can make really rapid changes," Kelly said. "So that we can be more aware and take better care of our earth," added her mom, Kristi. The competition ended on April 28. The winners included La Paz, Bolivia, for the most observations and the most participants; Cochabamba in Central Bolivia recorded the highest number of species; and San Francisco beat L.A. in all three categories: observations, participants, and recorded species. But the biggest winner, according to Johnson, is our understanding of nature where or near people live, which is really important for protecting, understanding, and conserving the world's biodiversity.
