MALIBU, Calif. — A group of people helped rescue a small beached whale in California on Friday morning.
The incident happened at Zuma Beach in Malibu.
Video from the scene showed the whale on the sand, surrounded by people and a videographer, while lifeguards pulled a truck up to the water. They were eventually able to carry the whale to a vehicle for treatment.
Los Angeles County Fire Department's Lifeguard Division tweeted that the whale was a pygmy sperm whale and that they were monitoring its progress.
However, the whale passed away, according to an Instagram post by the California Wildfire Center.
"California Wildlife Center’s veterinarian, Dr. Stephany Lewis consulted with veterinarians at Sea World, San Diego and officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who recommended euthanasia. This species of whale does not do well in long-term rehabilitation or captivity and was not likely to survive transport to San Diego for treatment.," the post reads.
"According to Dr. Lewis, 'these animals don’t strand without reason. The strand because they have some severe systemic illness which we can’t typically appreciate during the initial physical exam,'" the post continues. "Dr. Lewis humanely euthanized the whale with intravenous anesthetic drugs for a painless passing."
You can read the whole post on California Wildlife Center's Instagram page.
