A dead humpback whale calf named Tango was found washed up near Juneau, Alaska, and an investigation is underway to determine if it was struck by a vessel.
Last summer’s unusually warm weather fueled an explosion in the western blackheaded budworm, leaving masses of browning trees in many areas of Southeast. The worm, which is the larval stage of the budworm moth, is known to feed on the new growth of trees, leaving them with a brownish-red appearance.
Off to a very slow start.
The humpback whale was first reported dead or stranded on Killisnoo Island on Feb. 10th, by Alaska Marine Highway System personnel, said Sadie Wright, a large whale entanglement response coordinator with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division. The animal with a long history in the area has been necropsied.
Orthione griffenis, or O. griffenis, eventually kills its host shrimp, and soon the remaining shrimp can’t find each other to reproduce, rendering a blue mud shrimp population extinct.
The Coast Guard reported the dead 47-foot female humpback to NOAA on Sunday evening. It had washed ashore on the south end of Kruzof Island. The whale looked healthy and its belly was full of fish — most likely herring. But they did find some evidence of blunt trauma.
“For the killer whales, I honestly don’t know if this is normal or not,” said Mandy Keogh, the Regional Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator for NOAA Fisheries in Alaska. Dead killer whales simply aren’t seen that often.
It is thought to be either an aborted fetus or a very young calf. The calf is one of six belugas that have been found dead this year, five in the last month.
An alarming number of gray whales have been found dead this year from Mexico to Alaska, triggering a federal investigation into what’s causing the die-off.
Approximately 700 dead mottled sea stars (Evasterias troscheli) found with appendages intact, which indicate that mortality event may be related to stormy weather.
The species has been spotted in the Inside Passage before. But sightings are infrequent. A whale found recently near Juneau is thought to have died from a vessel strike.
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