45-foot-long whale found dead on popular San Francisco beach in latest puzzling death

Officials are warning visitors to one of San Francisco’s most popular beaches to stay away from a 45-foot-long dead whale that washed up Sunday.

A necropsy, or animal autopsy, failed to confirm a cause of death for the gray whale, the 14th found dead in the Bay Area since April, the Marine Mammal Center said.

“Gray whales are sentinels for ocean health so performing these investigations is essential to better understand how human activity and changing environmental trends are impacting this species,” said Dr. Pádraig Duignan, the center’s director of pathology.

The number of dead gray whales is the highest in the region since 2019, the center said.

“In 2019, when this unusual mortality event began, we had 13 dead gray whales,” spokesperson Giancarlo Rulli told SFGate. “Last year we had five. In an average year, we and our partners at the California Academy of Sciences respond to about five to 10 dead whales of all species in a given year.”

Bodies of a pygmy sperm whale and two fin whales also have been found in the Bay Area this year, according to the publication.

Common causes for whale deaths include “malnutrition, entanglement and trauma from ship strikes,” the Marine Mammal Center said.

Bone fractures on the gray whale’s body suggests it may have been struck by a ship after dying of other causes, KPIX reported.

Ocean Beach, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, stretches along 3.5 miles of the Pacific Ocean near Golden Gate Park. It’s popular with surfers and windsurfers although the cold water and rip currents make it dangerous for swimmers.

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