00:00Earth Climate
00:01Climate crisis pushes Pacific Gray Whales toward population collapse.
00:08Pacific Gray Whales are washing ashore in alarming numbers this year,
00:12raising concerns about the species' future,
00:15and prompting marine advocates to call for renewed federal protections.
00:19The deaths represent the latest chapter in a troubling population.
00:24Decline linked directly to climate change
00:27and its cascading effects on Arctic ecosystems.
00:32According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
00:36145 Pacific Gray Whales have been found dead on beaches so far this year,
00:42including 13 in Alaska.
00:45While this is a slight improvement from last year's 179 strandings,
00:50the ongoing crisis underscores a larger pattern of decline.
00:54The eastern North Pacific population of gray whales has plummeted dramatically,
01:01dropping from approximately 27,000 animals a decade ago
01:05to around 13,000 today,
01:08less than half its former size.
01:11Rick Steiner,
01:12a retired University of Alaska marine conservation professor,
01:17emphasizes that these numbers tell only part of the story.
01:20There is a high mortality rate,
01:23and of course,
01:24the ones that wash ashore
01:26are only maybe 10% of the whales that are dying,
01:30he explained.
01:31This means the actual death toll
01:34could be 10 times higher
01:36than reported strandings suggest,
01:38painting an even grimmer picture
01:40of the population's decline.
01:42The crisis intensified
01:44during what scientists call
01:46an unusual mortality event
01:48between 2019 and 2023.
01:52During that five-year period,
01:54690 gray whales washed ashore
01:57as their population declined sharply.
02:01Investigations revealed
02:02that starvation and vessel strikes
02:04were common causes of death,
02:06but the underlying factor
02:08pointed to something larger,
02:10the disruption of Arctic food webs
02:13caused by climate change.
02:15Gray whales undertake
02:17one of nature's most remarkable migrations,
02:20traveling thousands of miles
02:22from breeding grounds in Baja California
02:24to the Arctic each spring.
02:27There, during summer months,
02:29they feast on tiny crustaceans
02:31found at the ocean bottom.
02:33This abundant food source
02:35is essential for their survival
02:36and reproduction.
02:38However,
02:39climate change is dismantling
02:41this food chain from the bottom up.
02:43As Arctic sea ice melts in spring,
02:47algae that thrives on the ice surface
02:49suddenly drops to the seafloor.
02:51This algae feeds amphipods,
02:54small crustaceans
02:55that form the foundation
02:57of the whale's diet.
02:58As Arctic sea ice continues shrinking
03:01due to warming temperatures,
03:03the abundance of these crucial organisms
03:06diminishes proportionally.
03:08Whales arriving
03:09at their traditional feeding grounds
03:11increasingly find themselves
03:13in a food desert,
03:15leading to starvation
03:16and weakened populations,
03:18unable to reproduce successfully.
03:21Despite the dire situation,
03:23some scientists and whale advocates
03:25suggest the whales may be adapting.
03:29In recent years,
03:31coastal waters near Kodiak and Sitka
03:33have witnessed substantially higher numbers
03:35of gray whales
03:36than historically observed,
03:39hundreds instead of dozens.
03:41Researchers suspect these whales
03:43are desperately searching
03:45for alternative food sources.
03:47Steiner notes preliminary evidence
03:49that gray whales
03:50can shift their diet
03:52from benthic amphipods
03:53living in seabed sediment
03:54to small fishes
03:56like Arctic cod
03:57in the water column.
03:59However,
04:01dietary flexibility
04:02may not be sufficient
04:03to ensure the species recovery.
04:06Steiner and other advocates
04:07are pushing for more substantial action,
04:10relisting the gray whale
04:12under the Endangered Species Act.
04:14The species was removed
04:16from the list in 1994
04:18when the population
04:20appeared to be recovering.
04:22Today,
04:22Steiner argues that relisting
04:24would provide crucial management tools
04:26and legal protections necessary
04:28for the species
04:30to survive
04:30this climate-driven crisis.
04:33Last August,
04:35Steiner filed a petition
04:36at the NOAA
04:37requesting relisting.
04:39Typically,
04:40the agency has 90 days
04:42to decide
04:42whether to pursue listing,
04:44but nearly a year
04:45has passed
04:46without a decision.
04:48Michael Milstein,
04:49a NOAA fisheries spokesperson,
04:52stated that the agency
04:54continues evaluating
04:55the petition
04:55but has not established
04:57a timeline
04:58for its decision.
05:00The delay
05:01troubles Steiner,
05:02who warns that
05:03if no AA
05:04doesn't propose
05:05relisting the species
05:07within the next month,
05:08the matter will likely
05:10end up in court.
05:11This legal battle
05:12could determine
05:13whether gray whales
05:14receive the intensive management
05:15and protections
05:16their precarious situation
05:18demands
05:19as they navigate
05:20an increasingly hostile
05:22Arctic environment
05:23transformed by climate change.
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