Dead whale washes up on Pismo Beach shore. ‘It’s saddening’
Seagulls screeched across the sky, circling something as it tumbled in the surf Sunday morning: a small whale carcass that washed up at Pismo Beach.
A handful of surfers stood on the shore with their boards, hesitant to jump in the water for fear that the whale could attract sharks. Meanwhile, beach-goers stopped to snap photos of the scene.
Pismo Beach resident Luke Miller said he saw birds swarming above the ocean while surfing that morning. He paddled closer to the source to see what the fuss was about — then quickly surfed to shore when he spotted the whale.
Miller joked he hopes sharks snack on the whale instead of any nearby swimmers.
“It’ll tide them over for their next meal not to eat the surfers,” Miller said.
Still, he described the scene as “lugubrious,” and said he mourned the loss of what from its small size may have been a juvenile whale.
“It’s saddening, kinda of emotional,” Miller said.
Pismo Beach Assistant City Manager Mike James confirmed the whale briefly floated to shore near Tower 5 north of the Pismo Beach Pier on Sunday morning.
The tide pulled the whale back into the ocean later that day, and it hasn’t washed back onto the beach since, James told The Tribune on Monday.
The city did not identify what type of whale it was, and the cause of death is unknown, James said.
Humpback whales migrate through Pismo Beach from April to November, while the smaller minke whales can be seen on the Central Coast year-round, according to the city’s website. Gray whales migrate through the area from February to May.
