Another gray whale dead in Puget Sound

A dead gray whale has been spotted near a West Seattle beach.

It's reportedly the fifth dead gray whale found this month - four in Puget Sound waters and the fifth near Vancouver, British Columbia.

Marine biologists say it's not usual for five to seven whales to die in a migration season as they make their way north to their summer feeding grounds around Alaska. But more deaths would be cause for concern.

Howard Garrett of Orca Network, a Whidbey Island-based marine mammal advocacy group, says the whales are stressed and hungry and don't have the strength to go on with the rest of the migration. He says they come into inland waters and can't find food here.

There have also been several recent, documented attacks on gray whales by transient killer whales. But it's unclear if any of the deaths are related to run-ins with the killer whales.

A necropsy was scheduled Thursday on the whale found dead Wednesday. Experts say the other dead grays were considerably underweight.

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Information from: KOMO-TV, http://www.komotv.com/