The number of gray whales migrating along the Pacific Coast of North America has steadily declined by nearly 40% from a 2016 peak, and the population produced its fewest calves on record this year, according to U.S. research released on Friday.
The 38% drop from the population's 2016 high of 27,000 whales to 16,650 this year resembles previous fluctuations but warrants further attention, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Administration report said.
A spike in gray whale strandings detected along the West Coast of North America from Mexico through Alaska two years ago prompted NOAA Fisheries to declare an "unusual mortality event" for the population in 2019, triggering closer scrutiny of the phenomenon. The overall population slump among West Coast gray whales coincides with diminished reproduction, researchers found.
Gray whales, one of the largest animals on Earth weighing up to 41 tons and reaching lengths of 49 feet , are known for their visible annual 10,000-mile migration between feeding grounds in the Arctic and breeding grounds in Baja Mexico.
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