![\"dead](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/museoballena.jpg\")
A whale that washed up dead in the Bay of La Paz, Baja California Sur, in February. (museodelaballena\/Instagram)<\/p>\n
Scientists say malnutrition is to blame \u2014 not poaching or ship strikes \u2014 after most carcasses were found decomposed and showed no signs of direct human harm.<\/p>\n
Self-beachings, implying that a whale intentionally or accidentally beaches itself, were not the cause, either, as scientific consensus does not support intentionality or suicidal behavior in whales.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen leads us to believe they arrived malnourished, which made them much more vulnerable and prone to stranding,\u201d said Lorena Viloria Gomorra, a researcher with Mexico\u2019s Marine Mammal Research and Monitoring Program (PRIMMA).<\/p>\n
Most strandings are involuntary responses to distress, disorientation, illness or external factors.<\/p>\n
The deaths were recorded in places such as Laguna San Ignacio and Bah\u00eda Magdalena, key whale sanctuaries and breeding areas on BCS\u2019 west coast that are also remote whale-watching areas<\/a> about 400 kilometers north of Cabo San Lucas.<\/p>\n The Whale Museum in La Paz, the capital of BCS, confirmed that whales likely died offshore after failing to find enough food in their Arctic feeding grounds.<\/p>\n Two years ago, Mexican agencies such the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) and National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp) reported a significant uptick in Gray whale numbers<\/a> in the Vizca\u00edno Reserve, which includes San Ignacio and Bah\u00eda Magdalena.<\/p>\n In the long run, however, the numbers are reportedly dropping.<\/p>\n The eastern North Pacific gray whale population has plummeted from 27,000 in 2016 to about 13,000 this year, the lowest number since the 1970s, according to a NOAA Fisheries report<\/a> from June as well as an open letter from biologists<\/a> in Mexico, the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n Moreover, births have almost completely collapsed. Only 85 calves were counted this year \u2014 a 90% drop from normal breeding seasons, according to NOAA Fisheries data and supporting articles.<\/a> NOAA Fisheries is a federal U.S. agency within the Department of Commerce\u2019s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).<\/p>\n \u201cGray whales are showing signs of extreme stress, with significant unusual mortalities, a reduction in reproductive rates, an increase in the proportion of malnourished whales, and changes in their foraging behavior,\u201d biologists wrote in their August open letter.<\/p>\n They warned that the population is in a \u201cprecipitous decline.\u201d<\/p>\n Scientists link the crisis to climate change. Melting Arctic ice and warming seas have reduced the whales\u2019 main food source \u2014 benthic amphipods.<\/p>\n \u201cRecent studies indicate that whales may be experiencing unprecedented conditions in the Arctic due to climate change,\u201d the open letter states.<\/p>\n The biologists called on international agencies to re-evaluate the gray whale\u2019s protection status and urged the International Whaling Commission to act. They warned that the species should be considered \u201chighly vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n International researchers are now expanding monitoring and photo-ID programs, hoping to understand and reverse the deadly trend.<\/p>\n With reports from La Jornada<\/a>, Oronoticias<\/a> and Mongabay<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ninety-two gray whales washed up dead in Baja California Sur (BCS) during the most recent breeding season, marking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,73696,73697,73698,66,73699,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-135496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-gray-whales","11":"tag-gray-whales-baja-california-sur","12":"tag-gray-whales-mexico","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-whale-watching-baja-california-sur","15":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/969199_Ballena-Gris_impreso.jpg\")
The eastern North Pacific gray whale population has plummeted from 27,000 in 2016 to about 13,000 this year, the lowest number since the 1970s. (Adolfo Vladimir\/Cuartoscuro)<\/p>\n