The “very decomposed” remains of a 55-foot-long whale that washed onto the beach at La Jolla Shores were removed May 14 and will be studied to determine what type of whale it was and why it died, authorities said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric istration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center was on the scene the morning of May 14 after the whale washed ashore the previous night.
The carcass was found by a member of the public near the La Jolla Shores parking lot on La Vereda near Camino del Oro, according to NOAA spokesman Michael Milstein.
Because of the condition of the remains, the whale’s species wasn’t immediately known, though it may have been “a larger baleen whale of some type,” Milstein said.
He said it is unlikely the remains were of a gray whale due to its size.
NOAA Fisheries will analyze tissue samples from the whale’s carcass to determine its species through genetic testing. That process will take “at least several weeks,” Milstein said.
“There’s nothing obvious that would suggest a cause of death,” he added. “It’s going to take a couple of weeks to get some results on this.”
City of San Diego spokesman Benny Cartwright said that after NOAA’s initial evaluation of the whale, “the carcass was sent to the Miramar Landfill for final disposal.”
— San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer Caleb Lunetta contributed to this report. ♦
