PESCADERO — A young humpback whale that washed onto a Northern California beach had massive fractures to the skull, which experts say suggests the 32-foot animal was hit by a boat.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/2ammkzM) Monday researchers with the Marine Mammal Center and California Academy of Sciences performed a necropsy on the female whale first spotted Sunday on Bean Hollow State Beach.
Scientists also found a cut on the front right flipper of the whale — evidence it had been entangled.
Humpback whales are slowing moving north along California’s coast, following the herring and anchovies they feed on.
The whales are migrating after likely giving birth in the waters off Mexico and Central America.
AP-WF-07-26-16 0313GMT
