06/10/2026
As gray whale migration season in the Bay Area winds to a close, our team unfortunately was alerted to another gray whale found near Pier 80 in San Francisco - the thirteenth dead gray whale found in the area this year 😔
The whale was towed to Angel Island State Park where a team of our scientists and partners from the California Academy of Sciences performed a necropsy, or animal autopsy 🔎🐋 Their investigation uncovered evidence of blunt force trauma consistent with vessel strike including a broken vertebra and hemorrhaging behind the skull 💔
Gray whales have been utilizing the Bay more frequently along their migratory route, with our researchers noting both more whales overall as well as individual whales spending longer periods of time in the Bay 🌁 While the reasons behind this behavioral shift are unknown, our scientists suspect the warm, shallow waters are desirable feeding and resting grounds for these gentle giants as their traditional arctic feeding grounds become more unpredictable with climate change.
We are dedicated to proactively preventing these tragedies and each investigation, alongside ongoing survey work, helps us better understand the changing behavior of these animals and how to best protect them. Our team is hopeful new thermal cameras, and programs like Whale Smart, can help spot whales and alert operators to their presence to do just that 🙌
This is another critical tool, like ongoing safety programs developed with the San Francisco Harbor Safety Committee, our experts hope will make a life-saving difference for our ocean 🌊 Learn about the new tech, possible thanks to our partners at 's Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory, at https://bit.ly/4egVngk.
Researchers at UCSB's Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory expand their whale-saving operations into the busy San Francisco Bay, where gray whales have been taking unexpected detours, possibly for food
