Mysterious Deaths of Whales in Mexico

“I’m worried. We are just starting the year and already we seem to see a dead whale nearly every day. Something is happening there and it needs to be investigated.”

– Homero Aridjis, Head, Group of One Hundred

A gray whale in Gulf of California, courtesy Natural Resources Defense Council.

February 20, 2006 Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez), Mexico – Authorities report that beginning perhaps back in November 2005, eight whales of varying plankton-eating species died of unknown causes. The first two bodies were humpback whales which were found on January 18, 2006, washed up on Mexican beaches along the State of Sinaloa (Culiacan is capital) in the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). Other dead species have included a baby gray whale, a fin whale and a minke whale.The badly decomposed carcasses so far have not shown signs of disease, toxic spill, algae bloom, or the cuts of fishing nets. “It’s a mystery,” Luis Fueyo, an assistant federal prosecutor for environmental crimes, told The New York Times.

Whales, dolphins and turtle found dead on beaches of Sinaloa State, Mexico. Culiacan is capital. Gulf of California and Sea of Cortez are names for same body of water.

Also reported dead in the same Sinaloa coastal region have been two dolphins and an olive ridley sea turtle. “I’m worried. We are just starting the year and already we seem to see a dead whale nearly every day. Something is happening there and it needs to be investigated,” said Homero Aridjis, who directs the environmental efforts of Group of One Hundred.

Olive Ridley Sea Turtle. Image courtesy NOAA.

More Information:

For more information about whales and declining marine populations, please see the following reports in Earthfiles Archives :

09/29/2005 — 2005 Arctic Summer Ice Melt – Largest On Record
08/05/2005 — Scientists Puzzled by “Bizarre” Pacific Coast Die-offs in 2005
05/11/2005 — Greenland Sea Cold Water Re-Cycling Has Nearly Stopped. Britain Expected to Cool
01/22/2005 — From U. S. to Arctic – A Sea Change in the Weather
11/02/2004 — North Pole Summers Without Ice?
08/14/2004 — Oceans Are Absorbing Greenhouse CO2. As Chemistry Changes, What Happens to Sea Life?
08/01/2004 — Sixth Straight Year Hundreds of Birds Die at Roestler Lake, North Dakota.
11/29/2003 — Glaciers Are Melting Around the World So Fast That Water Supplies Could Be Threatened
05/17/2003 — Major Study Reports Only 10% of Large Ocean Fish Remain
07/20/2002 — Extinctions of Earth Life Are Accelerating Rapidly
06/30/2002 — The “Bloop” Sound in the Ocean
06/04/2002 — EPA Admits Humans Burning Fossil Fuels A Big Factor in Global Warming
04/01/2002 — Scientists Investigate Dark Coastal Waters of Southwest Florida
01/05/2002 — Could Increasing Carbon Dioxide Gas Be Transformed Into Limestone?
12/22/2001 — Scientists Warn That Climate and Earth Life Can Change Rapidly
03/04/2001 — Disappearing Glaciers – Evidence of A Rapidly Warming Earth
02/18/2001 — Environmental Updates and Mysterious Deaths of 2000 Atlantic Brant Geese
02/07/2001 — 94% Decline In Aleutian Islands Sea Otter Population
01/28/2001 — U. N. Global Warming Forecast: Up to 10.5 Degrees F. Hotter At End of 21st Century
10/22/2000 — Mysterious Shark Deaths Near Panama City, Florida
09/10/2000 — Arctic Ice Melt Threatens Polar Bears
11/18/1999 — Short Environmental Updates
07/25/1999 — Maryland Fish Kills; Global Warming; and Warm Oceans and Disease
06/08/1999 — Increased Gray Whale Deaths in Spring 1999
02/28/1999 — Chickadee Beak Deformities in Alaska

Websites:

Save Whales: http://www.savethewhales.org/

NOAA Marine Fisheries: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov

Marine Mammal Strandings: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/health/networks.htm