Gray whale found dead on Fox Island shore likely hit and killed by boat, say biologists

FOX ISLAND, Wash. — A gray whale that washed up on the shores of Fox Island in Pierce County this weekend was killed by blunt-force trauma, likely from a vessel strike.

The 41-foot-long male gray whale was found just steps away from a residential property on Saturday. It was relocated from the shallows of Fox Island to a remote site on Monday, according to the Cascadia Research Collective.

The following day, biologists, primarily with the CRC and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, examined the whale to gather information on the cause of death.

The male whale’s health was also a contributing factor, with malnutrition likely playing a key role in its death, according to CRC biologist John Calambokidis.

“Its poor nutritional condition likely contributed to both it being in Puget Sound and potentially also made it more vulnerable to the vessel strike,” said Calambokidis.

The whale was last confirmed alive in the shallow waters of the sound in Mayo Cove on March 27, though it appeared to be in poor condition at that time.

The overall number of gray whale deaths in the eastern Northern Pacific has been elevated since 2019 when NOAA Fisheries declared an Unusual Mortality Event. Many of these whales were also found in poor nutritional conditions.

There are typically about a half-dozen gray whale strandings in Washington in normal years, according to Calambokidis.

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