NOAA investigating disturbances to 19th dead whale on Whidbey

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Unidentified people are being investigated for violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The incidents took place less than a week after the News-Times reported a duo throwing rocks at a gray whale, which washed ashore on May 13 at West Beach County Park. Now, NOAA Fisheries enforcement is exploring two new occurrences of desecration of the whale. Disturbing a dead whale without a permit can be a felony, King 5 reported. Civil penalties can be as much as $36,498, or lead to up to a year in prison with criminal fines, according to NOAA.

On the morning of May 15, when Orca Network Stranding Response Coordinator Garry Heinrich arrived to set up for a necropsy, he discovered carvings of initials on the side of the whale. The initials said: “AW+KO.” The carvings in the whale’s flesh were likely made overnight before officials arrived, he said.

“This animal should be honored,” he told a News-Times reporter. “It’s just such a desecration as far as I’m concerned.”

NOAA Fisheries enforcement is working on identifying the perpetrators.

Then, around 1 p.m. on May 16, a man and woman attempted to remove the baleen, or the filtration system in the whale’s mouth, using “a saw of some sort,” Heinrich said. He is uncertain whether they were able to successfully take any of the baleen.

A longtime Orca Network volunteer who witnessed the incident recorded the individuals’ car plate and provided it to Heinrich, who later reported it to Oak Harbor police, state park officials and NOAA Fisheries enforcement. Anyone attempting to take baleen from a whale must have a permit from NOAA, he said. NOAA Fisheries is investigating the incident.

Since the whale washed ashore on Whidbey last week, two more gray whales have died in Washington. The findings of the whale necropsy are still undetermined because the lab is backed up by the excessive number of dead whales.

Still, officials determined the whale on Whidbey appeared to have sustained some damage to its head, likely from a vessel strike. However, the injury is not extensive and may have only resulted in a concussion. Heinrich said the whale’s death was likely caused by severe malnutrition rather than the vessel strike, noting that its stomach contents consisted entirely of bottom mud with no food present.

There were around 27,000 gray whales globally in 2019, but that number had fallen to 13,000 as of last year and continues to decline rapidly, making this whale’s death even more troubling, Heinrich said.

“There’s still more emaciated whales swimming around Puget Sound,” he added. “This is a real tragic circumstance, and it’s not over, and I just don’t know what our numbers are going to be.”

NOAA advises people to remain 300 feet away from any living or dead marine mammal. To report marine mammal violations, call NOAA Fisheries’ Enforcement Hotline at 800-853-1964.