A dead humpback whale washed up at Baker Beach in San Francisco on Tuesday, according to the Marine Mammal Center.
Scientists with the center performed a partial necropsy and determined it was a juvenile female humpback whale. It was severely decomposed, the Marine Mammal Center said.
Scientists were unsure what caused the whale's death, pending a full necropsy report, officials said via social media.
Officials advised beachgoers to keep their distance from the whale and each other.