A 34-foot young male humpback whale’s carcass floating off the Oregon Coast was first spotted and reported on May 26, according to the Oregon Coast Beach Connection. It drifted to shore on May 27 in Nehalem Bay State Park.

Mike Ceccacci managed to get drone video footage of the bloated whale while it was still at sea. However, now that it is on shore, visiting the beached whale’s remains, which are near a western snowy plover nesting area, is discouraged.

Necropsy teams came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, Portland State University and its arm of the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network, assisted by Oregon State Parks, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Cascadia Research Collective and the Seaside Aquarium.

“The necropsy found significant hemorrhaging along the right front and sides of the whale, suggesting that it was struck by a vessel,” spokesman Michael Milstein of NOAA Fisheries said. “The team found bleeding, bruising and swelling along the right side of the whale’s head and sides.” In other words, it was a ship strike.

NOAA Fisheries’ estimation that there are probably at least 5,000 humpback whales off the coasts of Oregon, Washington state and California offers little comfort. (Photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)