The carcass of a 26.5-foot gray whale will be buried in a local landfill on the state's dollar after it was spotted off the coast of Torrey Pines State Beach Thursday morning, a San Diego lifeguard said.
The carcass was drifting north near the border of Black’s Beach and Torrey Pines State Beach about 9:45 a.m. when the decision was made to tow the deceased diver to Fiesta Island, Lifeguard Lt. Nick Lerma said.
Removing a whale carcass from the beach can be a complicated endeavor, Lerma said, particularly if the whale had washed onto Black's Beach. The area isn't particularly accessible to heavy equipment like bulldozers, which would have been needed to move the carcass.