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Puzzling deaths of gray whales off California coast probed

A dead gray whale lies near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco  

April 26, 2000
Web posted at: 2:02 a.m. EDT (0602 GMT)


In this story:

7,000 mile migration

65 sightings of live whales

RELATED STORIES, SITES icon



SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- Nearly a dozen gray whales have mysteriously died and floated ashore in San Francisco Bay over the past three weeks. By the time the eleventh washed up dead at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, researchers were scratching their heads.

 VIDEO
VideoCNN's Rusty Dornin explores the mystery of gray whales washing up dead on the shores of San Francisco Bay.
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Last year, starvation was blamed for most of the 270 deaths of gray whales along their migration route. This year the whales seem to have a bit more blubber on them.

"Although we've had a few animals that were very, very thin, we've had even more animals that were in very good body shape, which probably indicates there is more to it than just a nutritional problem," said Martin Haulena of the Marine Mammal Center.

The gray whale population, once endangered, rebounded from 15,000 to 26,000 over the last 20 years.

The increasing numbers create more pressure on the food supply, which some scientists say may have dwindled as a result of the warm waters of El Nino.

In the past three weeks 11 gray whales have washed up dead in the San Francisco Bay area  

7,000 mile migration

With the mammals on a 7,000 mile round trip migration from Alaska to Mexico, researchers still believe starvation is still the strongest theory.

"They're traveling this long distance; they don't have enough to eat -- now they've got to travel south to breed with low body reserves," said University of California-Santa Cruz emeritus professor of biology Burney J. Le Boeuf.

Finding answers becomes a problem when most of the whales wash ashore badly decomposed and difficult to autopsy.

"There might be a whole bunch of different things going on," Haulena said. "In past years, we've seen a pneumonia, we've seen a brain infection and encephalitis."

65 sightings of live whales

Oceanic Society researcher Caitlyn Toropova is looking for live gray whales. This year there have been 65 sightings, more than three times the number seen last year.

Toropova said her counting is aimed at helping "figure out what's going on with the live whales in the bay, to give some insight into what's happening with the ones that are washing up dead."

Scientists also see the irony that this once endangered species now may be suffering from the effects of overpopulation.



RELATED STORIES:
Ocean graveyards tell whales of stories
February 28, 2000
Gray whales may be starving, expert says
May 20, 1999
Gray whales slow to start winter migration
December 22, 1998
Most of 300 whales stranded on remote New Zealand beach die
October 29, 1998
J.J. the gray whale will return to sea
March 23, 1998

RELATED SITES:
Oceanic Society and Oceanic Society Expeditions of San Francisco, CA. 2000
The Marine Mammal Center
Burney J. Le Boeuf

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