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Gray whale found dead in Bremerton

BREMERTON, Wash. — A gray whale was found dead over the weekend near the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton.

State Department of Fish and Wildlife marine mammal specialist Steve Jeffries said it appears to be a juvenile female about 30 feet long. He said it was emaciated and likely died of starvation.

The Kitsap Sun reports that Jeffries believes the whale is the same one seen Tuesday in Tacoma's Foss Waterway. The scar patterns on the whale's back appear similar, he said.

Chopper 7 spotted the gray whale in the Foss Waterway on Tuesday. The whale was in the waterway near the Murray Morgan Bridge.  See video from Chopper 7

Howard Garrett of the nonprofit Orca Network of Whidbey Island also told the Kitsap Sun that he believes that the PSNS whale and the Foss whale were the same. The behavior in both cases of a whale swimming near boats was unusual and probably signaled distress, he said.

A full necropsy is not planned. Jeffries will complete his examination of the whale, and it will be towed out into Puget Sound and sunk in deep water.

"This is not that unusual for an emaciated gray whale to come into Puget Sound to die," Jeffries said to the Kitsap Sun. "We've seen it in the past."