Gray whale found dead near Alcatraz as CA expands program to slow down ships

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A gray whale found dead near Alcatraz this week is renewing concern among marine experts, who say whale activity in the San Francisco Bay has been unusually high.

While four to five whales are typically spotted on a normal day, sightings jumped to nine over the weekend.

The Marine Mammal Center says nine whales have already died this year in Bay Area waters. Many carcasses drift away before scientists can determine a cause of death, but vessel strikes remain the leading threat.

The latest case involved a small gray whale spotted Monday by naturalist Mandy Hansen during a San Francisco whale tour on the vessel Kitty Kat. The whale's body was seen along the island's shoreline before drifting out of reach, preventing a necropsy.

"We are not able to locate it. It probably drifted deep into the South Bay or we're hoping near a beach, so we can find out what happened," said Kathi George of the Marine Mammal Center.

MORE: 21 gray whales found dead in SF Bay so far this year, most since 2000: scientists

At a Blue Whales Blue Skies event in Oakland on Earth Day, George told ABC7 Eyewitness News she is excited by the interdisciplinary collaboration in the BWBS program.

"It's a really complex situation. We have lots of vessel traffic, and we have these whales coming into the bay for extended periods of time," George said. "We're here today celebrating the shipping companies slowing down to help protect whales and reduce air emissions."

To address the growing risk, the Marine Mammal Center and several partner organizations including the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation and Bay Area Air District are all part of the Blue Whales Blue Skies program, which expanded Monday under a new California law. It's been around for over a decade.

"We've implemented the program mostly near shore in recent years, and now we're expanding to cover offshore habitat important to those migratory species," said Jess Morten of the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

The initiative offers incentives for shipping companies to slow their vessels, reducing the likelihood of deadly strikes. What began with seven small companies has grown to more than 40, including some of the largest shipping operators in the world.

MORE: 6 whales found dead in Bay Area in 1 week as authorities scramble for answers

Morten said many of the initial incentives were financial.

"In recent years, we have moved away from that," Morten said. "Shipping lines care about recognition. Now they volunteer to participate."

The Port of Oakland, where a giant gray whale was spotted last month, was also recognized for its participation in the 2025 season.

Slower ship speeds don't just protect whales; they also reduce emissions from ship engines.

"It ended up being a win-win. Great that the shipping companies are able to participate," said Alan Abbs of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. "Emission reduction from ship engines would be health protective for Bay Area communities."

MORE: Dead adult female gray whale washes up along bay near Vallejo

Federal lawmakers are also pushing for new protections. Rep. Sam Liccardo of District 16 introduced the SAVE WILLY Act on Earth Day, proposing a pilot program that would create a "Whale Desk" and crowdsource whalelocation data so the Coast Guard can distribute that information to vessels in real time.

"We think it's a very low-cost approach to trying to reduce whale mortality," Liccardo said. "It's critical we do more at the federal level."

Supporters of Blue Whales Blue Skies say the program has already reduced the risk to some whale species by about 40% and cut more than 250,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions along the California coast.