A 13,000-pound gray whale washed up on a Malibu beach over the weekend to the heartbreak of locals.
Los Angeles County Fire Department lifeguards said they were notified of the whale along Little Dume Beach Saturday afternoon.
The deceased whale is said to be 25 feet long, and its carcass is currently under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Marine Fisheries Service, according to CBS News.
Video showed the whale tumbling through the waves at the beach located in the Point Dume State Marine Reserve, a protected area along the coast.
“It’s just devastating to see a baby not make it,” said local resident Suzy Forman Fox 11.
A 13,000-pound gray whale washed up on a Malibu beach over the weekend at Little Dume Beach
Lifeguards have urged the public to keep a safe distance from the whale until officials from the California Wildlife Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration can determine what to do with the remains
Gray whales are known to migrate between December and January and again in February and March when they move off the coast of Baja, California, near Mexico.
Forman, who said she has witnessed the migration before, said “it’s always a thrill” to see mothers and their calves come from Mexico to Alaska.
In recent decades, Forman said she has also seen an alarming amount of dead whales come ashore.
‘You know there’s a mother out there somewhere looking for her baby, probably… I’d imagine. So it’s very sad, she said.
Since the tragic discovery, lifeguards have urged the public to keep a safe distance from the whale until officials from the California Wildlife Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration can decide what to do with the remains.
It remains uncertain for officials to determine the whale’s cause of death as it washed up on the surf line, CBS News reported.
Dylan Strickland, another resident who grew up near the beach, said the whale’s death is “part of the cycle of nature” but that it is still “really sad.”
Strickland added that he hopes “the rest of the gray whales” successfully migrated.’
On May 10, a sperm whale was found dead after stranding itself on a sandbar along a Florida beach when strong waves halted rescue efforts.
In recent decades, resident Suzy Forman said she has also seen an alarming amount of dead whales coming ashore
On May 10, a sperm whale was found dead after stranding itself on a sandbar along a Florida beach when strong waves halted rescue efforts. The red tint in the water is not blood, but ink, according to officials
The 70,000-pound male whale beached itself early that morning as it thrashed around on the shallow sandbank in an attempt to break free.
Harsh conditions made the animal difficult to reach and hampered rescue efforts, leaving members of the public to watch as the whale grew increasingly distressed.
Marine biologists said it was a deep-diving whale, and considering it beached itself, it probably wasn’t healthy. It died the following morning when officials pulled it onto the beach and dissected it in an attempt to determine a cause of death.
Officials then issued a no-swimming notice, saying the blood in the water could increase shark activity.
The 44-foot-long whale first appeared on Monday morning as a crowd gathered on the beach.
The city of Venice announced that officials were aware of its presence and were making a rescue plan.
But on Sunday afternoon they said ‘water conditions are too dangerous to approach the distressed sperm whale at Service Club Park by boat to attempt to sedate the animal.’
Harsh conditions made the animal difficult to reach and hampered rescue efforts, leaving members of the public to watch as the whale became increasingly concerned
They added: ‘The whale is estimated to be approximately 50 feet and 50,000-70,000 pounds.’
Over the next few hours, rescue services tried in boats but were unable to reach the whale.
Drone footage showed the whale surrounded by a dark liquid in the water that onlookers worried was blood. But the city said: ‘According to Mote Marine, the reddish liquid in one photo is ink, not blood.
“Like cephalopods, sperm whales can produce a dark, ink-like fluid that helps them escape from predators. They can also produce it when they’re in distress. It’s quite typical to see before a whale passes.’
On Sunday evening, the whale suffered from labored breathing and died around 03.00 the next day.
In the afternoon, officials dragged its body onto the beach and cut it open to perform an autopsy, saying the mammal was underweight for a healthy adult whale.