Pacific gray whales are facing a “catastrophic mortality event,” with 145 fatal strandings reported along the West Coast this year — including at least 20 in California so far — environmentalists warned this week, citing NOAA‑linked data.
The organization Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, sounded the alarm upon the release of the latest data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“As of July 6 of this year, 145 gray whale stranding deaths have been reported, a rate already exceeding yearly totals recorded during the last three years of the declared ‘Unusual Mortality Event,'” the group said in a written statement.