A long-deceased adult gray whale washed ashore near Klipsan Beach last week.

Sixteen gray and humpback whales have been reported stranded off Washington and Oregon since April 3, the largest number in nearly two decades.

Shellfish growers in Willapa Bay in southwest Washington, the self-styled "Oyster Capital of the World," are alarmed by an invasion of potentially destructive nonnative European green crabs. Some are asking for an all-out trapping offensive to corral the invasive species.