A 50-foot grey whales washed on land in Huntington Beach on Friday were washed, according to officials with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.
The cause of death of the young adult woman is still unknown, according to Glenn Gray, chief executive of the Laguna Beach-based nonprofit. Center employees performed an autopsy on Saturday morning.
The whales had no signs of physical damage, Gray said. Such marks are usually seen when whales are struck by boat, bitten by sharks, or tangled with fishing gear.
Samples from the body have been sent to the lab for testing.
“It could take a few weeks,” he said. “We share what we know with the public.”
Scientists say that a large number of gray whales have died this year.
At least 70 whales have died in a lagoon in Baja California, Mexico, according to Stephen Swartz, a marine scientist studying grey whales.
Whales are currently heading north to summer feeding sites in the Arctic and subpolar regions.
Three grey whales have died in San Francisco Bay in recent weeks.
Researchers don’t know why more whales are dying. The bodies of some dead whales appear to be depleted and malnourished, causing some scientists to believe that the problem could be a food shortage.
Alisa Shulmanjaniger, who has led the Los Angeles chapter of the American temporary society Gray Whale Census in Rancho Palos Verdes since 1979, said she and her volunteer numbers were the lowest in the number of whales swimming south this spring.
The mink whale, who was swimming at Long Beach Harbour earlier this month, died despite efforts by marine wildlife experts to bring it back to the deeper oceans.
Investigators from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were trying to determine the cause of the Minke Whale’s death.
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