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Dead Whale Discovered On Bayshore Near Dumbarton Bridge

FREMONT (CBS SF) -- A dead whale was discovered beached along the shore of San Francisco Bay near Fremont and the Dumbarton Bridge this week.

The whale was found at Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman with East Bay Regional Parks said whale is a juvenile and was found by a ranger surveying the area.

It is unknown what kind of whale it is.

Spokeswoman Carolyn Jones said the carcass washed ashore on a rocky beach about 200 yards south of the Alameda Creek Channel, which is just west of Coyote Hills Regional Park.

It is an area inaccessible to the public and the current plan is to leave it where it is and let it decompose, said Jones.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service spokesman Doug Cordell said a biologist was on the scene late Thursday morning and planned to perform a necropy later in the afternoon.

Jones said it is rare for whales to wash ashore in this area.

It's believed El Niño conditions have disrupted whales' food supply, leading to an increase in whale sightings and instances of whales beaching themselves.

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