A 15-foot gray whale carcass was floating approximately 500 yards off-shore near the southern end of Hermosa Beach on Tuesday, March 19, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Lifeguard Division.
The Lifeguard Division tweeted about the dead whale around 10 a.m., saying “due to heavy fog this morning,” the carcass’ precise location was unknown. But, the Lifeguard Division added, both the National Marine Fishery Service, and the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors had been notified.
The Fishery Service will determine the next steps, while Lifeguard Division officials continue monitoring the position of the whale and providing updates.
But researchers will most likely take blubber samples to determine the cause of the whale’s demise, said Peter Wallerstein, director of the nonprofit Marine Animal Rescue. Then, Wallerstein added, lifeguards will tow the carcass out beyond the shipping lanes, about 18 to 20 miles into the ocean.
Wallerstein, who has spent more than 30 years rescuing stranded and distressed marine life along the Southern California coast, said the Fishery Service is investigating why so many marine mammals have washed ashore recently.
“I think there’s been a total of 30 dolphins and whales all along the West Coast,” he said, including four dolphins in the last two weeks.
A whale, Wallerstein added, also washed up on to the rocks below the Point Fermin Lighthouse, in San Pedro, on March 7.
