Researchers to do autopsy on dead whale

Researchers planned to perform an autopsy on a five-ton, nearly 30-foot gray whale that washed ashore dead near Johnson Point in Washington.

The whale was too thin for its age _ estimated at up to 2 years _ said John Calambokidis, a research biologist for Olympia-based Cascadia Research.

"Starvation was an element of it, and there may be other elements we discover during the examination," Calambokidis told The Olympian newspaper.

People living in the area discovered the carcass on Sunday, and some were taking photos of the whale as researchers took measurements. The whale was on its belly, so researchers were not immediately able to determine its sex.

Thousands of gray whales are migrating back to their feeding grounds off Alaska after spending their winter near Baja California in Mexico.

Officials from Cascadia Research and Seattle Shellfish towed the carcass from the private stretch of rocky beach Monday night so researchers can examine it.

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Information from: The Olympian, http://www.theolympian.com