Whale Washes Ashore On Cameron Parish Beach

There are whales in the Gulf of Mexico. We don't usually see them because they very rarely come close to the shore. Last week the body of a very young whale was discovered on Florida Beach in Cameron Parish. Officials with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries are investigating the incident.

The animal was a very young female calf that was an animal that should've still been with its mother. She was a dependent calf and mom would've been nursing this animal, she was very, very young.

That's what marine biologist Mandy Tomlin told the Louisiana Radio Network. The whale measured 23 feet in length and it's hoped that an autopsy on the body will yield information that can lead to a better understanding of these creatures.

I would say a couple weeks to maybe a couple months just to get everything analyzed and then compared with other stranded sperm whale samples that may exist around the country, as well.

Tomlin said the samples collected from this specimen will be compared to samples taken from similar incidents involving these creatures. Just recently another whale washed ashore on a beach in Florida. Biologists are looking for a common cause between the two whale deaths and if there is an outside or environmental relationship between the two incidents.