Dead whale near Yakutat

Observation by Melenda Lekanof

We saw this dead whale about 2 miles east of the mouth of the Akwe River. This whale was discovered on Saturday, May 24 from a flight from Akwe to Yakutat by a local pilot, it is believed to be a grey whale. On Saturday there was not a lot of bears or wolve tracks around that time. With the high rate of CruiseShip's, fishing boats and barges I have concerns if someone can check to see if there is evidence of a hit and run. Tracking the Marine traffic, it looks to be very high rate in the area. From Juneau to Yakutat, we seem to be getting a much higher rate of 2025 Cruise ships in the area which is concerning since they do not seem to be patrolled or monitored. MFS

LEO Says

It is always interesting to try to figure out what happened to a whale that has beached onshore. It can be a complex process, also known as cetacean stranding, with multiple factors and reasons resulting in a beach whale. These can include illness or injury, following prey, and as mentioned human-induced reasons. Often, a combination of natural and human-induced factors can lead to a whale being stranded onshore. We reached out to Sadie Wright with NOAA's Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network for more information and insight. Also included in the sidebar links are grey whale migration and "where they live" information and a link to the Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

Consult by Sadie Wright, NMFS, NOAA

May 26, 2025, the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network received a report about this dead gray whale photographed on May 24, 2025. The animal stranded in a very remote area; the location and weather conditions have precluded a necropsy effort as of May 28, 2025. We have received no additional reports confirming that the stranded gray whale has stayed at this location. We encourage the public to submit reports of stranded or entangled marine mammals in Alaska as soon as possible to our 24/7 hotline: 1-877-925-7773.

AI Comment from GPT 4.1:

Over the past several years, there have been multiple reports of dead or stranded gray whales along the Alaska coast and surrounding regions. Notably, the 2019 "unusual mortality event" declared by NOAA documented a significant spike in gray whale deaths, with many individuals reported as "skinny and malnourished". Additional observations from that year, including finds near Turnagain Arm, Cordova, and Boundary Bay, B.C., added to the tally, with common observations of whales being underweight or sick. More recently, in 2020 a gray whale was found stranded in Twentymile River, showing possible signs of injury or illness. There have also been cases of large whales, such as the 2015 humpback near Eagle River, where ship interaction was suspected.> The current observation fits into a larger regional context involving numerous gray whale strandings and deaths, many with uncertain causes. Previous posts have noted possible contributing factors such as malnutrition, injuries, and ship strikes. Given the report of increased marine traffic—including cruise ships and fishing vessels—in the Yakutat area, and previous findings where ship strikes were suspected (2015 Birchwood humpback observation), monitoring for signs of trauma or vessel collision in this latest case is especially important. It may also be valuable to report the sighting to NOAA or the Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline for further investigation and necropsy, to help clarify cause of death and contribute to the understanding of ongoing whale mortality events in the region.