The resolution requires the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to undertake an immediate comprehensive assessment of the threats to and status of the California Gray whale, and calls upon the California State Senate and Assembly to approve an upgrade of the status of the California gray whale from ‘recovered’ to ‘endangered’ through the California Fish and Game Commission.  The measure also asks that the President and Congress take action to ensure survival of the species.

WDCS believes these measures are necessary as this is not the first time that human behavior has threatened gray whales. In fact, gray whales live so close to the shore that they are referred to as “urban whales.” Living in close proximity to humans means gray whales are more directly affected by coastal activity.

Unfortunately, we can’t always pinpoint the exact cause of harm done to whales. For example, in 1999 and 2000 the gray whales experienced an unusual mortality event in which roughly 300 dead whales washed ashore each year. Without the ability to necropsy a sufficient number of animals to determine the cause, the most widely accepted theory was a diminished food source.

Amphipods, which live in colonies on the sea floor of the Bearing and Chukchi Sea, are the main food source of gray whales.  According to recent studies, declining levels of amphipods may be linked to climate change. Amphipods feed on algae beneath the sea ice, so with shirking sea ice, less food is available for amphipods and hence less food available for gray whales.

After the gray whale population decline in 1999 and 2000, the population seemed to remain stable at about 17,000 individuals. However, current evidence suggests a downturn for the whales, including a population decline over the last two years to half of the mid-1980s level, and many more skinny whales.

The good news is that gray whales have proven twice before that given the proper protection they are capable of recovery. In the 1850s, whalers discovered the California gray whales’ breeding and calving lagoons in Mexico. They took advantage of vulnerable calves and their protective mothers, and decimated the population within two decades. Once recovered, factory whaling pushed gray whales again to the edge of extinction in the early 1900s.

California gray whales eventually recovered after obtaining protection from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1946, and from the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1970. The gray whale success story should not end here, however. Please pledge your support for Resolution 49!