Six gray whales have died in the San Francisco Bay area in just the past week alone, bringing the total number of stranded whales to 15 so far this year as authorities rush to figure out what could be causing the sudden deaths.
The California Academy of Sciences and their partners at the Marine Mammal Center confirmed that six gray whales died between May 21 and May 28 and that their necropsy response efforts to figure out what is going on has been “challenging.”
“Necropsy response efforts and data collection have been challenging for a number of cases due to inaccessible locations that hinder full post-mortem investigations, as well as poor tissue quality from advanced decomposition, and the lack of available locations to tow for further investigation,” officials said. “As of today, May 28, 2025, a necropsy (animal autopsy) was conducted at Kirby Cove in the Marin Headlands. It is suspected that this subadult male is one of the two whales that was sighted on May 26, 2025. The cause of death is still under investigation. The other individual has not made landfall.”…