Wildlife officials are looking into the death of a humpback whale that washed up on the shores of Huntington Beach Pier last week.
The 26-foot female was observed at an offshore blue mussel farm on Thursday, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration authorities.
“NOAA Fisheries biologists with the West Coast Region Stranding Network were dispatched to the site the following day to investigate,” according to a statement issued by NOAA. “The humpback was pushed off aquaculture equipment, and the whale washed ashore on Huntington Beach on the morning of January 25.”
The whale sustained “significant blunt-force trauma” to the right side of its skull, according to a necropsy conducted on the beach by experts from NOAA, WCRSN, the Ocean Animal Response and Research Alliance, and the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.
According to them, the impact can be a sign of a ship strike.
According to officials, the final necropsy results are still awaiting.
On Saturday, SkyCal flew above the location of the whale on the beach, where dozens of people were observed looking at the whale’s carcass despite the yellow tape around it.