30-foot decaying gray whale found washed ashore in Huntington Beach, California after storm

A decaying gray whale was found washed up on a California beach following the recent heavy storms that have hit the state.

The gray whale's carcass was found Thursday at the Bolsa Chica State Beach tidal inlet in Huntington Beach, California, and authorities were on site to investigate the animal's death, the Orange County Register reported. The whale, which appeared have been dead for a few weeks before it washed ashore, was about 30 feet long.

Huntington Beach is located along California's coast, about 39 miles south of Los Angeles.

Last week, an atmospheric river also known as a "Pineapple Express" slammed California, pounding the state with heavy rain, snow and flooding that caused power outages, property damage, rockslides and more.

The discovery of a gray whale on the beach is not unusual, Justin Viezbicke, the California coordinator for the NOAA’s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program, told the Los Angeles Times, as 10-12 end up beached in California every year.

Are gray whales endangered?

While they were once common throughout the Northern Hemisphere, gray whales are now mainly found in the North Pacific Ocean. There are two main populations of the species, one in the eastern and one in the western North Pacific, according to the NOAA Fisheries.

Gray whales were given the nickname "devil fish" thanks to their aggressive reactions when harpooned. They were once a target for commercial harpooners, who brought their populations down significantly until international conservation measures were enacted in the 1930s and 1940s and the International Whaling Commission issued a mortarium on commercial whaling in the 1980s.

While once considered endangered, the eastern gray whale stock have since regained its numbers, and all gray whales are now protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The species can grow to be quite large: about 49 feet long, and heavy, weighting approximately 90,000 pounds.

They have one of the longest annual migrations of any mammal, traveling 10,000 miles or more round-trip between Baja California, Mexico and the Arctic to feed and have calves.