Baby gray whale found dead on California beach. Cause of death a mystery

A gray whale calf has been found dead on a California beach, officials told news outlets.

A dead 1-year-old whale washed up on Seacliff State Beach near Aptos at about 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2, The Mercury News reported.

Tides pulled the body back out to sea, and it was later pulled into the surf line near Rio Del Mar, the publication said.

It’s not clear how the whale calf died.

“We’ve been kind of keeping an eye on what’s been happening with gray whales because so many have been washing up along the shoreline, and it could be due to ship strikes,” Karen Grimmer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told KSBW.

“It could be due to a number of reasons,” Grimmer told the station..

A necropsy, or animal autopsy, will be performed to try to determine the cause of death, The Mercury News reported.

Adult gray whales can reach up to 49 feet in length and weigh up to 90,000 pounds, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

They make one of the longest migrations of any mammal, moving up to 14,000 miles round-trip each year. They are protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Aptos is about 85 miles south of San Francisco.

This story was originally published October 5, 2023 at 1:51 PM with the headline "Baby gray whale found dead on California beach. Cause of death a mystery."