Four gray whales have been found dead in the San Francisco Bay Area in just over a week, one of the mammals was killed by ship strike, while the other three deaths are being investigated, the California-based Marine Mammal Center has reported
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th April, 2021) Four gray whales have been found dead in the San Francisco Bay Area in just over a week, one of the mammals was killed by ship strike, while the other three deaths are being investigated, the California-based Marine Mammal Center has reported.
The first gray whale carcass was spotted at San Francisco's Crissy Field on March 31. In the next few days through Thursday, three others were washed up in the Bay Area.
"It's alarming to respond to four dead gray whales in just over a week because it really puts into perspective the current challenges faced by this species," Padraig Duignan, Director of Pathology at The Marine Mammal Center, said on Friday.
According to the center, the autopsy of the fourth mammal found on Muir Beach showed that it died due to ship strike. The investigation into the other three deaths continues.
"These necropsies are critical to provide insights into gray whale population health and that of their ocean home, including how human activity impacts them," the center added.
The incident is the biggest die-off of gray whales in such a short span in the area since 2019 when the center performed 13 necropsies in the San Francisco Bay Area.
