38-foot gray whale washes ashore with orca bite marks as strandings surge in the Northwest

38-foot gray whale washes ashore with orca bite marks as strandings surge in the Northwest

Concern about increasing whale strandings in the Pacific Northwest is growing after a 38-foot gray whale came ashore south of Newport, Oregon.  The carcass drew circling vultures and a strong odor, and visible bite marks appeared to point to possible orca predation, as the Lincoln Chronicle reported. What happened? During a Tuesday examination near South Beach State Park, Marine Mammal Stranding Network program manager Jim Rice told the paper th…