A small whale that drew crowds of people after consecutive sightings in the Long Beach Harbor has died, officials confirmed Sunday.
The cause of death is still under investigation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration took tissue samples from the deceased whale to conduct exams and determine the possible causes of death.
“Sometime in the night, it came out and went up this way, got stuck and passed away,” said Justin Viezbecki with NOAA. “The efforts today by our partners are going to help us figure out what happened.”
The minke whale was spotted near a Catalina Express dock in the Shoreline Marina Thursday morning. While it’s unclear when the whale first made it to the shallow waters, witnesses said it had been in and out of the area for multiple days prior.
Earlier this week, harbor crews were using moving booms in the water in an effort to guide the whale back toward the open ocean.
The small whale drawing crowds in long beach is also out-smarting wildlife crews who’ve tried repeatedly to push the whale out to sea. Mekahlo Medina reports for the NBC4 News at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 4, 2025.
Tyler Askari with Harbor Breeze Cruises first spotted the whale Monday near where the cruise company’s boats dock. He said the whale simply may be in the area to satisfy its appetite.
“We think it was tracking a path of food, finding it, ended up in docks,” Askari said. “Wherever the food is, is where the whales are going to be.”
Minke whales are members of the baleen family. They are the smallest baleen whales in North American waters, reaching lengths of up to 35 feet and weighing up to 20,000 pounds.
The whales are usually sighted alone or in small groups. Their distinct vocalizations vary with clicks, grunts, pulse trains, ratchets, thumps and even boings.
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