Dead gray whale was skinny and undernourished
CAMANO ISLAND — An examination has revealed more about the dead gray whale that washed ashore near Harborview Park in Everett in early May.
A necropsy confirmed the whale, a female, died of starvation. Biologists found ghost shrimp in one of her stomachs, but she was skinny and undernourished.
The carcass had been towed from Harborview Park to a Department of Natural Resources beach on the southeast side of Camano Island.
That area was chosen because of its proximity to Everett and because the carcass can decompose there without affecting neighbors, said Michael Milstein, a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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So far this year, 28 gray whales have died on Washington beaches, Milstein said. This time last year, there were 10.
But as a whole, Milstein said the gray whale population is doing very well.
“Overall the population is healthy,” he said previously. “But when you have a large population like this, it can be more sensitive to changes in the environment.”
There are about 27,000 gray whales that migrate along the West Coast between Mexico and the Arctic.
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