Dead humpback whale washes up on beach near Cayucos

A dead humpback whale washed up in the surf south of Cayucos on Saturday, drawing the interest of beach-goers who gathered to get a look at the carcass from the sand nearby.

Dan Falat, superintendent of California State Parks’ San Luis Obispo Coast District, said his agency was monitoring the carcass with the help of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The carcass, which was rolling in shallow water with the surf, was located along Montecito Beach, near Old Creek Road.

Observers said it appeared the carcass had been mauled, with large chunks bitten out, possibly as the result of an orca attack.

“I saw probably a 10-foot shark ram itself (into the whale), like, three times,” Weston Werner, 15, said.

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Denny Morey, 15, noticed two sharks approach the whale.

“One jumped sort-of out the water and attacked it and started thrashing it,” Morey said.

Because the whale carcass was still in the water, Falat said officials were unsure what they might do about it.

“We haven’t made a determination yet until we know where it lands and ultimately what happens,” he said.

The Channel Islands Cetacean Research Unit (CICRU) is helping Fish and Wildlife and State Parks investigate the whale’s death.

“Preliminary inspection indicate bite marks from great white sharks (not killer whales), which would be post-mortem, and not the cause of death of this whale,” CICRU large whale stranding coordinator Diane Alps wrote on Facebook.

CICRU is a nonprofit organization that evaluates both man-made and natural deaths of cetacean species, which includes whales, dolphins and porpoises, according to its website.

Individuals can report beached cetaceans by calling the CICRU stranding hotline at 805-500-6220.