The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced it will begin an investigation into the cause of an “unusual mortality event” (UME), namely, the death of at least 70 gray whales along the western Pacific coast from Alaska to California that have taken place over the last five months. This data generated the suspicion that the death of the cetaceans is related to a decrease of food supply, which could be a consequence of the warming of the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas. As a result of human-driven global warming, however, average temperatures at the Bering and Chukchi seas have been much higher than previous years. This is altering the micro ecology of the gray whales’ main food source, namely, tiny crustaceans and other organisms living on the sea floor.
A stranded dead gray whale is pictured at Leadbetter Point State Park, Washington, U.S., April 3, 2019. | Photo: Reuters
— source telesurenglish.net | 1 June 2019