Dead gray whale washes ashore in Los Angeles County

A dead gray whale washed ashore at a Los Angeles County beach on Feb. 2, according to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center (PMMC).

The whale, a 37-to-40-foot-long adult female, was found early morning Sunday at Dockweiler State Beach, and PMMC staff and volunteers responded to perform an animal autopsy, otherwise known as a necropsy.

The center said that officials from L.A. County’s Department of Beaches and Harbors, and California State Parks, ensured public safety by closing a portion of the beach, meanwhile, the center’s necropsy team carefully collected samples from the scene to analyze.

“The whale appeared to be thin and had a moderate burden of whale lice, which is suggestive of the animal being ill prior to death,” PMMC said in a release.

PMMC noted that the gray whale species experienced an “unusual mortality event” from 2019 to 2023. 

Researchers thought it was the result of decreased prey availability in their foraging grounds, causing a “significant population decline and reproductive failures.”

“It is critically important to monitor this population to understand if they are recovering from this recent mortality event,” said PMMC’s release. “Samples and necropsy of this gray whale will help scientists understand what caused her death and will aid in post-unusual mortality event monitoring.”

The center said that additional diagnostics and analysis of samples will be performed to confirm a cause of death, and a full report will be released once all data has been processed.