April 20, 2025 Saturday

1 North Bound 0 Calves 0 South Bound 6.5 hrs 2 REW***

A solo Gray Whale with various large deep wounds or healing scars. Dark necrotic looking tissue in center and steep edges covered with lice on both sides of the rostrum (head). Left side view shows increased lumpy body contours with bilateral scapula areas due to loss of fat pad. Protruding scapula area and dip post cervical areas indicating loss of blubber layer.

Today ***REW Carter Baldwin, Ocean Lifeguard Specialist reported a solo Gray whale before sunset and another Gray Whale after sunset migrating past the transect.

Whale Deaths Listed along West Coast

• January 25,2025: A 26 ft Humpback Whale washed ashore dead in Huntington Beach with blunt force trauma to the head most likely from ship strike.
• February 2,2025: One Gray Whale washed ashore near Dockweiler Beach on 2-2-25 Necropsy results pending, the whale had obvious predator bites and blunt force trauma injuries.
• Alarming numbers of Gray Whales are reported dead on shore in the Baja Lagoons in Mexico.
• March 12, 2025 (40) whales were reported dead. That number climbed to 70 and is currently reported at 84.
• April 8,2025: San Francisco is reporting 4 dead whales including 3 Gray Whales and one Minke in the Bay in 8 days with necropsies results pending. The juvenile Minke Whale stranded alive and was ultimately euthanized.
• April 11,2025: One 45 ft female Gray Whale washed ashore dead at Huntington Beach near Tower 7 with no obvious cause of death. The Pacific Marine Mammal Center (PMMC) and the Ocean Animal Response & Research Alliance (OARRA) teams performed the Necropsy the next morning with results pending.

GRAY WHALE ENTANGLED off PALOS VERDES set FREE : April 9th 2025: A Gray whale was set free by authorized and NOAA trained Whale Entanglement Team (WET) off the coast of Palos Verdes . Justin Greenman, assistant California stranding coordinator for NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region., together with Justin Viezbicke The stranding coordinator for NOAA, took great effort to assess the whale and plan the effort. The whale was stuck in place caught on a heavy rock crab trap 100 ft below at the ocean floor and struggled to come to the surface to breath. A local off duty ACS-LA whale observer called ACS-LA Gray Whale and Behavior Census Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger who contacted the WET. Without the fast action of the whale observer who recognized the whales distress on the evening of April 8th 2025 and the coordinated efforts that followed, Justin Viezbicke, California stranding coordinator for NOAA Fisheries, was reported to say ” this whales chance of survival was low”

**** REW ( Reliable Eye Witness ) counts are not included in the daily or weekly tally: they are counted and kept separately as a record of the whales observed at Point Dume. The REW counts are extremely helpful and provide important data to keep track of the seasonal and daily changes of the migration. The total gray whale population declined 46% during the UME (Unusual Mortality Event) from 2019-2023. Population Estimates for 2024 increased to 19,260 up 33% from the 2023 estimate of 14.526. The UME was declared over in fall of 2023 and reported over in winter of 2024.

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