Massive 40-foot sea creature washes up on Southern California beach, lifeguards say

A 40-foot juvenile fin whale washed up on a Southern California beach and died, lifeguards reported.

The whale was spotted in the surf off Torrance Beach at about 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, Los Angeles County Lifeguards said in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter.

Experts from the Marine Mammal Care Center and National Marine Fisheries Service were notified, but the whale later died, lifeguards said.

“This is a juvenile fin whale, about 40 feet in very poor body condition,” John Warner from the Marine Mammal Care Center told KTLA. “Stranding the fin whale here means the animal is compromised and sick.”

Crews using two tractors removed the whale carcass from the beach Sunday, Aug. 11, as beachgoers watched from behind barriers, KTLA later reported.

Fin whales are the second-largest creatures on Earth next to blue whales, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. They can reach up to 85 feet in length and 80 tons.

They are fast swimmers and feed on krill, small fish and squids, the NOAA said. They are considered endangered.

Threats to fin whales include vessel strikes, entanglement, ocean noise and climate change.

Torrance Beach is about a 25-mile drive south from downtown Los Angeles.

This story was originally published August 11, 2024 at 8:21 AM.