Scientists believe that the high count of dead gray whales washing up on American coastal shores is due to climate change. According to the Huffington Post, over 70 gray whales have died this year, the highest number in 20 years. Most of the whales seem to have died of starvation due to a mixture of pollution, like plastics, and dwindling food resources for the whales, because of warming underwater climates.
The problem is so bad that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is asking for help from private landowners. The kind of help the NOAA needs is space and places which will allow for a whale carcass to decompose. Because whales are huge and trying to waste manage dozens of dead whales is very hard to do. A single carcass can takes months to break down and like anything that is decomposing, will potentially cause great distress for someone’s sense of smell. On the plus side, if you have the space to allow a whale to decompose, you probably also have a lot of other wildlife around that might benefit from the free food and nutrients a decomposing whale can bring.
As of June, 30 whales have washed up along Washington state and almost 40 have appeared along California’s coastline. According to NOAA gray whales usually grow to about 90,000 pounds, reaching almost 50 feet in length. They spend their time in the northern pacific and usually live about the same length of time as a modern human.