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The female gray whale that was swimming in fresh water under the U.S. 101 bridge died this morning after beaching repeatedly on sand bars overnight. She was stranded for 53 days, attracting crowds of gawkers to Del Norte County near the Oregon border and numerous efforts to help steer the whale down to the sea. "Based on the photos and everything, her fat layer looks good, so we don't think she starved to death," Sarah Wilkin, stranding coordinator for NOAA Fisheries, told the Associated Press. "There's something else going on." The whale's calf swam out to the ocean on July 23.
The Yurok tribe had offered to suspend its commercial fishing due to begin this weekend, preferring to not disturb the whale. Today the tribe helped with removal and burial. "To have such a large animal in our presence for so long was a great gift, but now nature has taken its course," said tribal chairman Thomas O'Rourke Sr.