SAUSALITO, Calif. – A popular humpback whale that washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay Area over the weekend probably was killed by a collision with a ship, researchers said.
A necropsy determined the female adult whale, later identified as “Fran,” had “injuries consistent with a ship strike,” including extensive bruising to the chest area along with a fractured vertebra, and her skull was dislocated from her spinal column, according to a statement from The Marine Mammal Center.
Except for those injuries, the whale was in excellent condition, with ample fat and blubber reserves, the center said.
The 49-foot whale washed ashore Sunday at Manhattan Beach in Half Moon Bay.
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A popular sight along California
The center later identified the whale as “Fran,” the most popular whale in California. At 277 recorded sightings since 2005, according to the whale sighting database Happywhale, no other whale had been spotted more in the state, the statement said.
“We know that Fran has been photographed all but one year since she was born,” Ted Cheeseman, who founded Happywhale, was quoted in the center’s statement. “Learning of her death is especially sad since this year marks the first year she’s successfully brought a calf to feeding grounds.”
The whereabouts of Fran’s calf remain unclear.
Fran was the fifth whale to be killed by a ship strike in the San Francisco Bay Area this year, according to the center. The last death before that was in May, when a female adult gray whale was found at Fort Funston in San Francisco.
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The center said overall, seven gray whales and 3 humpback whales have died in the area this year. In addition to those killed by ship strikes, necropsies found one died of malnutrition and one from a suspected killer whale attack while the causes of death for four other whales was undetermined.
Humpback whales visit California to feed in the summer and fall before migrating south to breeding and birthing grounds off the coast of Mexico.
Contributing: Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY; Associated Press