California lawmakers seek answers to spike in gray whale deaths

Twenty members of California's House delegation are demanding that NOAA investigate the causes behind the rise of gray whale deaths off the state's coast.

In a letter to NOAA acting Administrator Laura Grimm and NOAA Fisheries Director Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, the lawmakers referenced a "dramatic surge" in eastern Pacific gray whale deaths so far this year, with 21 confirmed fatalities. The letter pointed out that this total is higher than the gray whale strandings in California in several of the years from 2019 to 2023, when the species experienced an "unusual mortality event" that NOAA attributed to food source disruption in the whales' primary feeding grounds in the Arctic and sub-Arctic.

They also noted a significant increase in the number of whale sightings in the San Francisco Bay area, where the animals appear to be staying for longer than average.

"Many of the whales appear emaciated, with experts suggesting they may be driven into the Bay by diminishing food sources along their migratory path from Mexico to the Arctic," the letter penned by California Rep. Sam Liccardo said. All of the lawmakers who signed the letter are Democrats.

"We request information about whether NOAA has tested any hypothesis, developed any theory, or reached any conclusion about the cause of the apparent increase of intrusion of whales into the San Francisco Bay, and the cause of the apparent spike in whale deaths," the lawmakers wrote.

NOAA recently reported that the population of eastern North Pacific gray whales has plummeted by more than 50 percent since 2016, from roughly 27,000 individuals to fewer than 13,000.

Pacific gray whales are known to store energy from their heavy consumption of food in their northern range before migrating 6,000 miles south to the Baja Peninsula, where they mate and calve in shallow lagoons, then return in summer to the colder waters of the Arctic. Some have speculated that the whales are becoming exhausted before completing the return journey to the Arctic and are accumulating around San Francisco Bay, where they are at higher risk of entanglements and ship strikes.

The lawmakers also asked whether the Trump administration's recent cuts to NOAA staff have contributed to slower-than-usual response to the mortality spike, including interactions with local response organizations that work with the agency to monitor the whales for elevated risks.

The letter asks for a formal response from NOAA by Aug. 17.