Whale Deaths Prompt New Bay Area Bill

Rep. Sam Liccardo introduced the Save Willy Act on April 22 after a spring run of gray whale deaths in and around San Francisco Bay. (liccardo.house.gov) (kron4.com) The bill would set up a “Whale Desk” at the U.S. Coast Guard’s San Francisco station so mariners and the public can report sightings and vessel operators can be warned when whales enter busy shipping lanes. (liccardo.house.gov) (kron4.com) It also calls for a four-year pilot program in San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate strait, plus a Coast Guard review of tracking and alert tools, including artificial intelligence systems that could forecast whale presence. (kron4.com) (nbcbayarea.com) The measure landed after nine gray whales were found dead in Northern California waters in roughly five weeks, according to The Marine Mammal Center and NBC Bay Area. Seven were in San Francisco Bay and two were in nearby outer coastal waters. (marinemammalcenter.org) (nbcbayarea.com) The center’s April 2026 stranding log lists nine gray whales found dead between March 17 and April 20, including animals at Pier 19, Point Pinole, Bodega Bay Harbor and near Alcatraz. Only the March 17 whale is currently listed as a suspected vessel strike; several other cases remain pending or undetermined. (marinemammalcenter.org) Scientists say the Bay has become riskier because more gray whales are lingering there to feed. The Marine Mammal Center and co-authors wrote that from 2018 to 2025 they documented 114 individual gray whales in San Francisco Bay, and at least 18% later died in the area. (theconversation.com) Their analysis found 30 of 70 dead whales had trauma linked to ship strikes, though many carcasses could not be examined. Liccardo’s office said nearly one in five gray whales that enter San Francisco Bay die there. (theconversation.com) (liccardo.house.gov) The pressure is building after 2025 became the Bay Area’s worst whale-death year in a quarter century. Liccardo’s office said the region recorded 24 whale deaths last year, including 21 gray whales, and at least nine of those gray whale deaths were suspected or probable ship strikes. (liccardo.house.gov) (kron4.com) NOAA Fisheries said in 2025 that the eastern North Pacific gray whale population had fallen to about 13,000 animals, with reproduction still very low. The agency tied the decline to ecosystem changes in Arctic feeding grounds after the 2019-2023 unusual mortality event. (fisheries.noaa.gov 1) (fisheries.noaa.gov 2) Kathi George of The Marine Mammal Center said the bill adds attention to an existing Coast Guard vessel traffic system that already helps when boats and whale habitat overlap. The next step is whether House committees take up Liccardo’s proposal as the migration season continues. (liccardo.house.gov)