Dead Whale Washes Up on San Clemente Beach

The carcass of a 30-foot gray whale washed ashore on a narrow beach in San Clemente on Friday afternoon, leaving state lifeguards with the problem of disposing of the dead mammal.

Lifeguards plan to haul the whale out to sea this morning and tow it south for burial on San Onofre State Beach, said Steve Long, a state lifeguard supervisor.

Winds and surf helped push the carcass ashore just north of Calafia Beach County Park about 2 p.m., San Clemente city lifeguard John Sotter said. The whale appeared to be bloated and pale, he said, indicating that it had been dead about a week. He would not speculate on how the whale died.

Lifeguards decided against burying the whale in San Clemente, Long said, because the beach is too narrow to operate the heavy equipment burial requires.

Two other dead gray whales have washed up on Southland beaches in the last two weeks, both in Los Angeles County. Gray whales are migrating northward to the Gulf of Alaska after spending the winter months off the coast of Baja California.