Whales

For the fourth time in less than two weeks, a dead whale washed ashore along the Oregon Coast.

Federal environmental and energy officials say there is no evidence that work done by the offshore wind power industry is killing whales in the northeastern U.S. On Wednesday, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management addressed the controversy surrounding a spate of whale deaths on the East Coast that some groups suspect may have been caused by site preparation work for offshore wind farms.

Lawmakers at local, state and federal levels called Friday for a temporary pause in ocean floor preparation work for offshore wind farms in New Jersey and New York after another dead whale washed ashore in the region.

Scientists aboard the Bell M. Shimada keep an eye out for whales. One scientist hopes to help predict where whales will show up by studying the food they eat.

Whale watchers have spotted a record number of humpback calves in inland Pacific Northwest waters this season. There was also a record streak of Bigg's killer whale sightings that just ended, according to a local whale research nonprofit. Those observations offer some good news to offset the ongoing concern about the survival of the Northwest's iconic, but critically endangered resident orcas.

An administrative law judge has recommended that a Native American tribe on the remote northwestern tip of Washington's Olympic Peninsula once again be allowed to hunt gray whales — a major step in its decades-long effort to resume the ancient practice

The Bellingham Herald reports mother and grandmother L47, or Marina as she was also known, was missing from the center's 2021 census, and she hasn't been spotted since Feb. 27.

An Oregon research team is on its way to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to look for a potentially new species of beaked whale. These shy whales live in remote parts of the ocean, hunting squid at extreme depths.

Researchers say the decline in resident killer whale populations along the West Coast is due not only to various long-term human influences, but to direct human-caused harm, as well.

As this year’s Dungeness crab fishery approaches, so does the risk of whale entanglements in crab gear.