A dead gray whale has washed ashore in Rodeo, marking the third gray whale death in the Bay Area this year, officials confirmed Wednesday.
The whale's carcass was seen partially submerged in the San Pablo Bay just off the Rodeo shoreline Wednesday morning. Rodeo is located on the eastern side of the San Pablo Bay, which is situated just north of the San Francisco Bay.
The whale's cause of death has yet to be determined, according to the Marine Mammal Center. Scientists are slated to perform a necropsy sometime in the coming days.
"The death of a third gray whale in San Francisco Bay this year is a cause for serious concern as it speaks to the broader challenges this species continues to face in its ocean home," Dr. Padraig Duignan, Chief Research Pathologist at the Marine Mammal Center, said in a statement. "The findings of these investigations are incredibly valuable as it is shared with policy-makers to help find long-term environmental solutions to try and help prevent these incidents in the future."
The whale's age, size and sex weren't immediately known.
Further information was not available.
