Gray whales are dying in San Francisco Bay at an alarming rate – this isn’t normal
Posted by Portalrules123@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 26 comments
SyndrFox@reddit
Actually it is normal, it’s the new normal
BadgerKomodo@reddit
Came here to say that.
WildFlemima@reddit
In 40 years I don't doubt that all the big whales will have gone.
Deguilded@reddit
We need a brave captain to crash a Klingon bird of prey in SF harbor.
artikzen@reddit
I had no idea ALON is a thing. Thank you for pointing that out.
Apparently the first patent was filed in 1984, two years ahead of the movie.
Very strong evidence that time travel is here to save the day.
bluehour1997@reddit
Ugh, it's the articles about other animals that really make it hard to sleep at night lately. Can't even get our shit together to turn suggested speeds into regulations, it's pathetic.
We deserve what's coming to us.
BadgerKomodo@reddit
It makes me really sad.
summercookiess@reddit
Not all humans deserve what's coming to us. What about innocent babies and kids? Or the global south? Are you saying they would deserve it too?
Tumbleweed_Chaser69@reddit
mother nature cares not for morals or whos good and bad, not everyone deserves it, but it wont change whats going to happen next
summercookiess@reddit
but this isn't about whether nature cares for morals, I'm asking the parent commenter if everyone deserves it.
chefkoolaid@reddit
Absolutely. I feel terrible for the other creatures getting hurt and wiped out. Humans however totally deserve it.
summercookiess@reddit
What about innocent babies and children? Or the global south? Are you saying they would deserve it too?
Conscious-War5920@reddit
Yep, especially as we are learning that bees, crabs and many other species are conscious and aware. I always thought whales were so majestic and they are intelligent too, so to see this happen after how we fished them into almost nonexistentce kinda hurts.
Ok-Restaurant4870@reddit
Yup, this is the worst part for me. How humans can totally wreck the ocean shows how fucked we are.
DissedFunction@reddit
canaries in the coal mine and gray whales in the SF Bay
S1ckn4sty44@reddit
Obligatory jesse welles song drop. I've cried many times listening to this.
https://youtu.be/LALHeSyYKmo
Dinohoff@reddit
My HS age kid still says he wants to be a marine biologist and I don’t even know what to tell him regarding that career path. It makes me so sad.
NyriasNeo@reddit
"We found that from 2018 to 2025, 114 individual gray whales visited San Francisco Bay for varying lengths of time, but very few of these whales were repeat visitors from year to year. This may be due, in part, to the high mortality rate in the bay."
So 114 in a span of 7 years, about 16 each year.
"At least 18% of the whales that we documented alive in San Francisco Bay from 2018 to 2025 later died in the area, and evidence suggests the mortality rate is actually higher."
Out of this 114, 18% died .. so that is 20.52, rounded up to 21.
"Of the 70 dead whales included in this study, 30 of them had evidence of trauma associated with being hit by ships, but many other whales that died there couldn’t be reached to be examined. "
Where do they get 70? The number does not add up. So 70 is not the ones died in SF Bay area. The number is 21 in 7 years, roughly 3 each year. Please get your number straight either way.
haram_halal@reddit
They studied dead 70 whales, 21 of those where from the bay, the rest from the surrounding north pacific.
Portalrules123@reddit (OP)
SS: Related to ecological collapse as since 2016, the eastern North Pacific gray whale population has fallen by more than half. In recent years, a significant number of observed gray whale deaths have been from vessel strikes in the busy San Francisco Bay, which lies near their south-north migration routes. It seems that increased whale detours into the bay are correlated with reductions in their once-consistent Arctic food supply. Climate change is warming the oceans and melting sea ice, both of which are causing declines in the amount and quality of the whales’ food. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that more and more whales are entering new habitats out of desperation as it becomes harder to find crucial food. Sadly, the SF Bay is clearly not a safe area to be a gray whale in. Expect whales to continue dying from starvation, entanglement, and vessel strikes as climate chaos and our exploitation of the oceans continue.
SunshineSeattle@reddit
We have had a bunch if whales dying of starvation here in Seattle/ Washington state
So yeah.
Loopuze1@reddit
Hi from Oregon, same story here.
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/central-coast/second-gray-whale-washes-ashore-oregon-coast-arctic-feeding-challenges/283-5999b435-9d04-4a4d-b2e5-2d4c436816ab
zaidazadkiel@reddit
take that, greta thunberh
Cultural-Answer-321@reddit
Nothing in the world right now is normal. And never will be again.
StatementBot@reddit
This post links to another subreddit. Users who are not already subscribed to that subreddit should not participate with comments and up/downvotes, or otherwise harass or interfere with their discussions (brigading)
The following submission statement was provided by /u/Portalrules123:
SS: Related to ecological collapse as since 2016, the eastern North Pacific gray whale population has fallen by more than half. In recent years, a significant number of observed gray whale deaths have been from vessel strikes in the busy San Francisco Bay, which lies near their south-north migration routes. It seems that increased whale detours into the bay are correlated with reductions in their once-consistent Arctic food supply. Climate change is warming the oceans and melting sea ice, both of which are causing declines in the amount and quality of the whales’ food. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that more and more whales are entering new habitats out of desperation as it becomes harder to find crucial food. Sadly, the SF Bay is clearly not a safe area to be a gray whale in. Expect whales to continue dying from starvation, entanglement, and vessel strikes as climate chaos and our exploitation of the oceans continue.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1skpqsr/gray_whales_are_dying_in_san_francisco_bay_at_an/og0vyey/
Status-Bet9455@reddit
This is the worst part of collapse imo. The sheer amount of innocent wildlife that will eventually perish due to human greed and fuckery. It is overwhelming.