Why Are So Many Gray Whales Washing Up On Shore?

From Mexico all the way up to Alaska, hundreds of gray whales have been washing up ashore. The deaths peaked in 2019, and the numbers were so significant that it led scientists to call it an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) which kicked research into gear. Scientists scrambled to figure out what was going on, and what they found turned their previous understanding on its head. This episode of Weathered explores gray whales' complex food web and how what’s happening in the Arctic may just affect all of us.

Weathered is a show hosted by weather expert Maiya May and produced by Balance Media that helps explain the most common natural disasters, what causes them, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare.

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[earthknight]

As someone of Native American ancestry who is working in environmental and biodiversity conservation I understand the spiritual and cultural connections the Makah people have with the whales, but I'd suggest that those connections can be maintained in other ways that do not involve killing the whales. At this point whale meat is not a necessary resource, nor is whale bone or baleen. The act of hunting can be symbolically represented via other means that still maintain the connection, and potentially assist with research, conservation, and better understanding the whales themselves.

If bone and baleen are needed for certain cultural practices then first right to those from beached whales could be enacted as a policy.

Issues like this are part of what I work on in my position and in my experience there is nearly always a solution that meets the underlying needs in a non, or at least less, destructive manner. It usually just takes some careful thinking, mutually respectful discussion, and time for ideas to percolate and mature.

[TragoudistrosMPH]

This was extremely well done. Historical, scientific, cultural, etc. So much covered in such a small video.
Major kudos to your entire team!!!

[TheHonestPeanut]

Imagine your AC kicks the can and everywhere you go is deafening, chaotic noise that's so loud you can barely hear AND the only food you can find is old, dried up french fries your sloppy roommate keeps dumping on your kitchen floor. You'd want to off yourself too.

[pheadrus]

Here in New Zealand the native Maori people have rights to any whale that washes ashore. Whale bone is a traditional material for carving and far more valuable to the Maori than to non-maori.

[nathansilvestre]

Whales are also washing up dead on the beaches due to the hits that they take from cargo ships. It's not uncommon for a cargo ship to kill a whale.

Also, sonar mapping of the ocean is deafening, whales go deaf or become stressed from these actions and sometimes beach themselves due to all of the confusion :T

[bjdefilippo]

Fascinating story. I'm glad they were able to identify the important variables and figure out the problem. Hope the situation stabilizes.

[wallace_films]

The Mikah Tribe trying to bring back whaling is like CSX trying to bring back steam locomotives. Honor life in a better way, by not slaughtering them.

[TheRealBozz]

I would argue that the relative intelligence of all cetaceans removes them from 'traditional right to hunt' lists. We know they are self aware to the degree that they recognize themselves as a distinct individual that is a part of a social group of individuals. We know they grieve for their dead.
I don't know. I did not grow up with the tradition. But I would argue that neither did the Makah. With the knowledge we have now, it feels a morally questionable action to take.

[curtisjohnson]

I occasionally see gray wales feeding off the bottom of the inland waters by our home in Washington state. Didn't realize they were a separate and unusual subgroup vs normal grey whales. Anecdotal but I can't recall ever seeing them in a group like other whale species - generally just one individual. Curious if this is instinctive or a learned behavior as calves? Does this imply they use a different method of group culture transmission than, for example, orca pods who continue to live and learn from each other throughout adulthood?

[terenceiutzi]

The wind farms down that coast are decimating the migratory birds too!

[Emcron]

considering the population crash during the whaling era, could this have led to a genetic bottleneck that has made them genetically vulnerable as well?

[garysheppard]

Traditional practices are all well and good but I think the time has come where such practices should be reined in.
Even in my lifetime there have been things I was allowed to do as a kid (go fishing and catch as many as you want. Go hiking in areas that are now closed off for conservation purposes etc). But in the modern world with declining natural resources and increasing population, we have to forego many of our previous activities so as to make the situations sustainable.
As grey whale populations aren't huge and they are obviously under pressure from several causes, adding another pressure because it's nice for the people involved is a luxury that should be sacrificed for the whale's survival.

[mattwilson]

Allowing a tribe to legally kill whales is ridiculous! This practice was stopped by the tribe itself in the 1920s ("supposedly"). Do we want to live in the 1920s or do we want to live in the 2020s? Lets make a better future for us and the whales!

[ross]

I'm not sure how I feel about the potential resumption of whaling by the Makah Tribe. I understand the cultural connection they have to the practise and that it wasn't their fault that the whale numbers declined so badly, that was obviously the fault of over harvesting by European commercial whalers. At the same time this species is still under significant pressure from climate change as these beachings demonstrate. There's also the question of whether its even ethical to hunt an intelligent animal like a whale in the first place.

EDIT: Having researched this more closely I've learned that the Eastern Pacific Gray Whale population is still only a fifth of what it was historically and that they've undergone a severe genetic bottleneck due to commercial whaling pressure on their population. Regardless of who is responsible for it that damage to the species has still been done and i just don't see how resumed whaling can be sustainable within that context. We can't breed this species in a zoo; if they die out in the wild they're gone forever.

[melissasheehan]

I respect the Makah's tradition of whaling but under the circumstances I feel it is not right and frankly surprised they are advocating for it when clearly the whales are declining again. The Makah have learned to survive without whaling for 100 years, surely they could wait a few more years to see if the decline continues.

[juanmacias]

Culture is just a repetition of actions. Just as the pacific coast feeding group learned to do handstands, and find new food. So should the Makah nation, there is no real reason to kill these creatures.

[johnkruk]

Please continue this ground breaking research /observations .

[readingnerd]

Wow, this episode of Weathered was eye-opening! It's alarming to hear about the Unusual Mortality Event affecting gray whales from Mexico to Alaska. The fact that the deaths peaked in 2019 and led to a reevaluation of our understanding of their complex food web is both fascinating and concerning. Kudos to Weathered for shedding light on the interconnectedness of ecosystems and how events in the Arctic can have widespread impacts. Maiya May's expertise make this show a valuable resource for understanding natural disasters and their implications. Looking forward to more insightful content!

[lampenfieber]

Wales are beautiful beings! These scientists are wonderful, doing amazing work 👏👏

[raymondpierotti]

Very Good job, you guys are showing how complex these issues can be, but I am very pleased that you let the Makah have an important voice in your presentation.