TACOMA — Washington State Parks rangers will leave a dead gray whale to decay on the beach near Twin Harbors State Park after it washed ashore Tuesday.
The Olympian reports that in a statement, state parks officials said “Visitors can expect strong, unpleasant smells as the carcass rots over the summer months.”
Parks officials say 30-foot-long juvenile female, believed to be 1 to 2 years old, was healthy before dying of a traumatic injury.
The whale’s carcass, south of Westport in Grays Harbor County, is in the Washington state Seashore Conservation Area, which covers much of the state’s western coastline.
