Increase in whale deaths in the Gulf of Alaska

Over the past four months, 33 large whales have been reported dead in the Western Gulf of Alaska, which encompasses the areas around Kodiak Island, Afognak Island, Chirikof Island, the Semidi Islands and the southern shoreline of the Alaska Peninsula. The significant die-off of whales has been declared an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), marking the first large whale UME ever in Alaska.

Why did 30 whales die in the Gulf of Alaska?

A threefold increase in whale strandings in the western Gulf of Alaska has prompted a government investigation.

The mysterious deaths of 30 large whales in the western Gulf of Alaska is being declared an “unusual mortality event” by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, the agency said Thursday.