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Unusual Mortality Event declared for gray whales in Pacific

Unusual Mortality Event declared for gray whales in Pacific

Gray whale deaths have spiked on the West Coast May 31 2019 – NOAA Fisheries has officially declared that the elevated numbers of gray whale strandings in 2019 on the west coast of North America an Unusual Mortality Event (UME).  Approximately 70 gray whale strandings have been counted in California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska as…

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Shared Sorrow – loss in the Southern Resident orcas

Last Wednesday night (August 8th), my heart sank as I read my messages: Tahlequah (J35) was spotted near the Olympic Peninsula off the coast of Washington State, still carrying the body of her dead daughter, 15 days after her birth (and death).  I hoped it was somehow not true – an old sighting confused with…

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Experts try to save sick Southern Resident orca Scarlet (J50)

An unprecedented attempt has been launched in the Pacific Northwest to save ailing Southern Resident orca Scarlet (J50), a young female who has been in poor condition throughout the summer.  The Fisheries Department of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in partnership with Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the Center for…

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