BEACHED WHALE
Necropsy expected on beached whale near San Francisco
PACIFICA, Calif. (AP) – Scientists are at San Francisco Bay Area beach Wednesday attempting to determine what killed a beached humpback whale.
The necropsy started Wednesday morning. There was some concern late Tuesday that the carcass was being dragged to sea by waves, the San Francisco Chronicle reports Wednesday.
The 32-foot female whale was discovered south of San Francisco Tuesday, marking the second dead whale to wash ashore there since mid-April.
It was within sight of the carcass of a sperm whale that was discovered dead last month.
This is the third dead whale found in the San Francisco Bay Area this year.
Last month, a 50-foot sperm whale washed ashore at the same beach in Pacifica.
In January, a rare pygmy sperm whale died after beaching itself in Marin County. Investigators said it had likely gotten sick and was too weak to swim.
