Скачать или смотреть A Heartbreaking Afternoon with an Abandoned Gray Whale Calf in San Diego

On January 12th, 2025 Captains Domenic Biagini and Erica Sackrison encountered an abandoned newborn Gray Whale. It was the first warning sign that the Gray Whale population was indeed still struggling after the recent Unusual Mortality Event which was thought to have concluded in 2023.

GRAY WHALE POPULATION CRISIS — 2024–2025 ESTIMATES RELEASED

NOAA Fisheries has just published devastating new data confirming a continued collapse in the eastern North Pacific gray whale population.

Current Population Estimate: 12,950
Down from 14,770 in 2022–2023
Down from 27,430 in 2015–2016
This is the third-lowest count since surveys began in 1967.

2024 Calf Estimate: Only 85 calves
Down from 221 last year
Record high was 1,628 in 2004
This is the lowest calf production since records began in 1994.

These numbers align with what we've observed through:
• NOAA’s shore-based census
• Baja California lagoon counts
• Stranding data
• Visual assessments of poor body condition
• Drone photo documentation

From NOAA:

“This is the lowest estimated gray whale population since the early 1970s and lower than the reduced numbers following the Unusual Mortality Event (UME) from 2019–2023. Reproduction has remained too low to support a rebound, and changes in Arctic feeding conditions may be driving this continued decline.”

We are deeply grateful to NOAA Fisheries for maintaining decades of consistent data that make these long-term assessments possible.

Further reading and full NOAA reports:
"Eastern North Pacific Gray Whales Continue Decline After Downturn During Unusual Mortality Event":
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/.../ea....
NOAA Fisheries website, gray whale research: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/.../gr....
NOAA Fisheries website, gray whale abundance: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/.../gr....
NOAA Fisheries website - gray whale calf production: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/.../gr....
NOAA Fisheries Publication, gray whale abundance: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/v...
NOAA Fisheries Publication, calf production: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/v...