Die-off of Large Whales Continues in Gulf of Alaska

Dozens of whales found dead in Gulf of Alaska

At least 34 large whales including humpback, fin and gray whales have been found dead around the islands of the western Gulf of Alaska and the southern shoreline of the Alaska Peninsula since May 2015.

NOAA declared the recent deaths an unusual mortality event (UME) in August. An UME is a stranding event that is unforeseen, involving a significant die-off of a marine mammal population, and demanding immediate response.

“NOAA Fisheries scientists and partners are very concerned about the large number of whales stranding in the western Gulf of Alaska in recent months,” said Dr. Teri Rowles, NOAA Fisheries’ marine mammal health and stranding response coordinator.

“Large whale UMEs are the most difficult UMEs to deal with, principally because the animals are floating and rarely beached and we have a difficult time getting to the carcasses to actually examine them.”

Biotoxins cannot be ruled out, despite one sample testing negative, Rowles added. “It’s my understanding that sea surface water and air temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska have been high, and that always concerns us because that means there’s probably a change in overall pathogen exposure—possibly HABs and other factors.”

“It takes a fair amount of time to pull data together even if the event is over, and a lot of deliberation and analyses have to happen in order to determine what’s going on,” Rowles said. “It could be quite a period of time before we actually have an answer, if indeed we end up with a definitive answer for this UME.”

Crop Disasters Declared across Multiple Areas

[The following list, as provided by USDA, appears to be woefully erroneous and incomplete. The listings are unverified and there may be other errors in addition to the ones already highlighted. —Editor]

Drought destroys crops in 81* counties across nine* states

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated a total of at least 81 counties across nine states as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those counties are:

Drought Crop Disaster Areas – Disaster Designation #1 (total of 7 counties)

• Arkansas. Hempstead, Howard, Little River, Miller and Sevier counties.
• Oklahoma. McCurtain County.
• Texas. Bowie County.

Drought Crop Disaster Areas – Disaster Designation #2 (total of 9 parishes)

• Louisiana. Bienville, De Soto, Grant, Natchitoches, Rapides, Red River, Sabine, Vernon and Winn parishes.

*Drought Crop Disaster Areas – Disaster Designation #3 (at least 5 counties)

• Maine. Carroll, Cumberland, Rockingham, Strafford Park and York counties.
• New Hampshire.

[We’re unable to locate “Strafford Park County” on the map. However, there’s a Strafford County in the neighboring state of New Hampshire. Also Carroll and Rockingham counties are located in NH and NOT in Maine. The list provided by USDA appears to be woefully erroneous and incomplete. The listings are unverified and there may be other errors in addition to the ones already highlighted. —Editor]

Drought Crop Disaster Areas – Disaster Designation #4 (at least 17 counties)

• Mississippi. Attala, Copiah, Covington, Hinds, Jasper, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lawrence, Leake, Madison, Neshoba, Newton, Rankin,  Scott, Simpson, Smith and Winston and counties.

Drought Crop Disaster Areas – Disaster Designation #5 (at least 18 counties)

• North Carolina. Anson, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Henderson, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Stanly, Union and Yancey counties.
• South Carolina. Chesterfield, Greenville, Lancaster and Spartanburg counties.

Drought Crop Disaster Areas – Disaster Designation #6 (at least 9 counties)

• Oklahoma. Choctaw, Le Flore, McCurtain, and Pushmataha counties.
• Arkansas. Little River, Polk and Sevier counties.
• Texas. Bowie and Red River counties.

Drought Crop Disaster Areas – Disaster Designation #7 (at least 11 counties)

• South Carolina. Cherokee, Chester, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Newberry, Richland,  Spartanburg, Union and York counties.
  

Drought Crop Disaster Areas – Disaster Designation #8 (at least 5  counties)

• Texas.  Greg, Harrison, Rusk, Smith and Upshur counties.

All counties listed above were designated as crop disaster areas on Sept. 30, 2015.

Crop Disasters 2015

Beginning January 7, 2015 USDA has declared crop disasters in at least 2,890 counties and county equivalents across 43 States [as well as Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands]: Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, Wyoming.

• About 99 percent of the 2015 crop disaster designations are due to drought so far this year.

Crop Disasters 2014

In 2014, USDA declared crop disasters in at least 2,904 counties across 44 states. Most of the designations were due to drought.

Those states were:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan. Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. [FIRE-EARTH has documented all of the above listings. See blog content.]

Notes:
i. USDA trigger point for a countywide disaster declaration is 30 percent crop loss on at least one crop.

ii. The counties designated as agricultural disaster areas, as listed above, include both primary and contiguous disaster areas.

iii. Some counties may have been designated as crop disaster areas more than once due to multiple disasters.

iv. The U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.

Related Links

Crop Disasters Declared across CONUS, Puerto Rico September 25, 2015

• Crop Disasters Declared in Multiple Counties across Central U.S. September 17, 2015
• Crop Disasters Declared in 191 Counties across 10 U.S. States September 10, 2015
• Drought and Deluge, Hail and Heavy Rain Destroy Crops in U.S. September 4, 2015
• Multiple Crop Disasters Declared in 9 States, USVI August 27, 2015
• Drought
• Agricultural Disasters Index