9th dead gray whale found beached in Wash. waters
OCEAN SHORES, Wash. - Another dead gray whale has been found washed up on the beach - this time on the Washington coast at Ocean Shores.
Michael Milstein with NOAA Fisheries says it's the ninth recorded stranding of a gray whale in Washington state this year - a higher number than is usually seen in the state at this time of the year.
In all, 30 whales died in strandings on the West Coast. That's five more than all of last year.
Just last week, a dead juvenile whale was found in Elliott Bay and towed for a necropsy.
A necropsy will be performed on the Ocean Shores whale Tuesday to determine its likely cause of death. The working theory is that the whale didn't get enough food over the past months to survive the migration back north.
Despite the high number of strandings of gray whales this year, Milstein says the population as a whole is doing very well - in fact, better than ever.
