Dead humpback whale washed up on Half Moon Bay beach

The carcass of a young humpback whale washed up on a beach in San Mateo County this weekend after being spotted drifting offshore for three weeks, the California Academy of Sciences said.

The dead female whale washed ashore at Cowell Ranch State Beach in Half Moon Bay, Liz Lindqwister, a spokeswoman for the academy, said in an email. The humpback whale’s body was first spotted May 28 in the surf near Eel Rock, a small island south of Half Moon Bay, she said.

Due to the steep topography of the crescent-shaped beach, which is accessed by a steep staircase at the end of a long walkway, academy staff were unable to perform a full autopsy. However, based on photographs taken from the cliff above the whale, staff concluded that the whale was “probably not an adult animal” and was between 25 and 30 feet (7.5 and 9 meters) long, officials said.

“The Academy’s scientists and volunteers plan to continue monitoring this whale in the coming days,” Lindqwister said.

The first dead whale of 2024 was spotted floating off Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda in late April, stuck on a sandbar offshore. Multiple agencies towed the carcass to Angel Island State Park for an autopsy.