Environmental groups have formally petitioned the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to relist the gray whale under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), warning that climate change is driving a catastrophic mortality event in the Pacific Ocean.
The estimated population of gray whales has nearly halved, dropping from 20,000 in 2019 to fewer than 13,000 in 2026, with the rate of deaths accelerating, according to a report from The Guardian.
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Melting sea ice in Alaska is depleting vital food sources, causing the whales to starve, while ship strikes, oil spills, microplastic pollution, and algal blooms contribute to the ongoing die-off.
Dire Situation for Gray Whales
"The whales are in very, very serious trouble," said Rick Steiner, an Alaska marine ecologist and chair of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility’s (PEER’s) board of directors.
"The stranding numbers last year and this year are enormous compared to their annual average," Steiner added.
Gray whales migrate annually from Baja California to Alaska to feed. They previously approached extinction in the 1970s before rebounding through conservation efforts and were delisted in 1994.
Population estimates for 2026 are most dire, with between 2,500 and 8,000 whales estimated to have died so far this year, fulfilling the criteria for a catastrophic mortality event.
Marine biologists can only count whales that wash ashore. Through the first half of this year, 146 carcasses have been directly counted.
The average annual number of gray whale strandings from 2006 to 2023 was 43, but that number rose significantly to 179 in 2025.
