Dead whale that washed up at Alameda Beach towed away Monday
(KRON) – A dead whale that washed up at Alameda Beach over the weekend was towed across the San Francisco Bay Monday. It appeared off the shore of Crown Beach in Alameda on Saturday night and drew groups of onlookers Sunday.
Right now, it is unknown how it died. Officials towed the whale away on Monday, bound for Angel Island Sate Park where a necropsy will be undertaken to try and determine how the whale died.
This is a popular time of year for the whale species to swim up the coast.
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Normally this time of year, you get a chance to see a gray whale swimming from Mexico to Alaska. And while it’s not uncommon to see a whale go inside the San Francisco Bay, researchers tell KRON4 it could be some time to find out how this particular whale died.
It’s a whale that’s celebrated, and Jessica Nuti can’t get enough of them. But at Mori Point in Pacifica. The mood is somber.
A gray whale, one of thousands that migrates up the Pacific coast every year, won’t be completing its journey. It was found dead this weekend off the coast of Alameda.
Moe Flannery with the California Academy of Sciences says she saw the whale’s carcass Sunday morning. So far, no obvious signs of a ship strike or being tangled in rope.
Flannery says gray whales have been dying around the world for years. Only now has the species started to recover. Flannery says the reason for the gray whale’s decline was climate change, reducing the whale’s food source and starving them to death.
But it is unknown if that was the cause of this whale’s death. Flannery says for every unfortunate whale death, it’s an opportunity to learn.
“Every whale that dies, although unfortunate, we can learn scientifically what’s going on with them,” he said.
The whale is seen lifeless close to shore, pictured below.
East Bay Regional Park District told KRON4 that the whale has now washed to shore.
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