Scientists on Wednesday are inspecting a 40-foot gray whale washed ashore in Half Moon Bay Monday, one of three dead whales to have been spotted on a Bay Area beach in a little over a month.
Scientists with the California Academy of Sciences had hoped to perform a whale necropsy Wednesday, but were unable to do so because of the high tide. They are currently examining the whale's bones for signs of trauma.
According to California Academy of Sciences spokeswoman Haley Bowling, the whale washed ashore on Monday near Kelly Beach between St. Francis and Poplar beaches. Scientists suspect it was the same whale that was reported offshore from Pillar Point.
A spokesperson for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito said the adult gray whale is a female.
Dead whale washed up in Half Moon Bay near Kelly Beach. pic.twitter.com/NbFMBVIamQ — Marianne Favro (@mariannefavro) May 19, 2015
Within the last two months, two other whales have washed ashore in the Bay Area, about 13 miles north of Half Moon Bay. A sperm whale washed ashored in Pacifica on April 14 and a humpback whale washed ashore on May 5.
Both those whales were buried on Tuesday.
