Officials: gray whale found stranded on Camano Island

Dead gray whale on Camano Island Since 2019, gray whales along the West Coast and Alaska have been experiencing an “unusual mortality event.” (NOAA)

By The Associated Press

CAMANO ISLAND, Wash. — Officials are responding to a dead gray whale found beached on the west side of Camano Island.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Fisheries West Coast Region posted about the massive stranded mammal, saying a necropsy would be performed.

The whale will be left on-site for “land-based natural decomposition” so nutrients return to the ecosystem.

Since 2019, gray whales along the West Coast and Alaska have been experiencing an “unusual mortality event.”

Since then, more of the animals have been getting stranded and dying. That includes one 43-foot-long gray whale that washed ashore near Harborview Park in Everett three years ago.