Michael Milstein, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told the Times that the deaths were an “unusual event” and that scientists had launched an investigation into them back in 2019, when 34 whales died in the state. Last year it was 18. The population is still considered healthy. In 2016, scientists estimated roughly 26,000 whales living off the western edge of North America; Most gray whales migrate annually from the inlets of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula to Arctic feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi seas. It is the longest migration among mammals, with a round-trip distance of 12,000 miles. Following the death of the whale last week, marine biologists issued calls to the Biden administration to urge the US Navy to work with them to review safety protocols after Her Majesty’s Australian Ship (HMAS) allegedly fatally injured two whales whilst entering San Diego Naval Base.