Bay Area’s first dead whale this year found on Alameda state beach, towed for necropsy

The 40-foot adult female gray whale that was found last week off Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda has since dislodged from a sandbar and has been towed to a secure location, according to the California Academy of Sciences. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Tow Boat USA coordinated Tuesday the whale’s delivery to a lab for necropsy to determine the cause of death. The response team also included the Marine Mammal Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

On Sunday, responders were able to get a closer look via boat and collect initial blubber samples prior to the planned towing. 

“We just want to clear up any potential confusion with the previously reported entangled gray whale two weeks ago, this is NOT the same animal,” said a spokesperson for the CAS.

This is the first reported dead whale in the San Francisco Bay Area this year. In 2019, elevated numbers of dead gray whales washed ashore in poor body condition across the species’ entire migratory range, which caused NOAA to declare an Unusual Mortality Event, a kind of emergency response action that has since ended.  

In 2023, there was one humpback and seven gray whale deaths, according to the Marine Mammal Center. They suspect vessel strikes were responsible for three of the gray whale deaths.

Researchers at CAS and NOAA have determined that malnutrition, entanglement and trauma from vessel strikes are the most common causes of death in whales. 

Those factors, as well as impacts from harmful algal blooms, infectious disease, natural predation, and other human interactions may be contributing to the rise in deaths.

All marine mammals are federally protected, and the public should not approach any whale, alive or dead. 

Boaters and people on the water should keep a safe distance from whales and report sightings to the center’s website.