Moment a 13,000lbs gray whale washes ashore along California beach: 'It's just devastating to see a baby not making it'

A 13,000lbs gray whale washed up on a Malibu beach over the weekend to the heartbreak of locals. 

The Los Angeles County Fire Department lifeguards said they were informed of the whale along Little Dume Beach on Saturday afternoon. 

The deceased whale was said to be 25ft long and its carcass is currently under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Marine Fisheries Service, according to CBS News. 

Video showed the whale tumbling through the waves at the beach that is located within the Point Dume State Marine Reserve, a protected area along the coastline. 

'It's just devastating to see a baby not making it,' local resident Suzy Forman told Fox 11. 

A 13,000lbs gray whale washed up on a Malibu beach over the weekend at Little Dume Beach

Lifeguards have urged the public to keep a safe distance from the whale until officials from the California Wildlife Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration can determine what to do with the remains

Gray whales are known to migrate between December and January and again in February and March as they move off the coast of Baja, California, near Mexico. 

Forman, who said she's witnessed the migration before said that 'it's always a thrill' to see mothers and their calves make their way  from Mexico to Alaska. 

In recent decades, Forman said she has also seen an alarming amount of dead whales make their way to shore. 

'You know there's a mom out there somewhere looking for her baby, probably-- I would imagine. So it's very sad,' she said. 

Since the tragic discovery, lifeguards have urged the public to keep a safe distance from the whale until officials from the California Wildlife Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration can determine what to do with the remains. 

It remains unsafe for officials to determine the whale's cause of death since it washed up on the surf line, CBS News reported. 

Dylan Strickland, another resident who grew up near the beach, said that the whale's death is 'part of the cycle of nature' but that it's still 'really sad.' 

Strickland added he hopes that 'the rest of the gray whales' successfully migrated.' 

On May 10, a sperm whale was found dead after beaching itself on a sandbar along a Florida beach as strong waves stopped rescue attempts.  

In recent decades, resident Suzy Forman said she has also seen an alarming amount of dead whales make their way to shore

On May 10, a sperm whale was found dead after beaching itself on a sandbar along a Florida beach as strong waves stopped rescue attempts. The red tint in the water is not blood, but ink, according to officials 

The 70,000lbs male whale beached itself early that morning as it thrashed about on the shallow sandbar in an attempt to get free.

Rough conditions made the animal hard to reach and hindered rescue efforts, leaving members of the public to watch as the whale became increasingly distressed.

Marine biologists said it was a deep-diving whale and given it beached itself, it was likely not healthy. It died the following morning as officials dragged it onto the beach and sliced it open in an attempt to discover a cause of death.

Officials then issued a no-swim advisory saying the blood in the water could increase shark activity.

The 44-foot-long whale first appeared on Monday morning when a crowd gathered on the beach. 

The City of Venice announced officials were aware of its presence and were forming a rescue plan.

But, on Sunday afternoon, they said that 'water conditions are too dangerous to approach the sperm whale in distress at Service Club Park by boat to attempt to give the animal a sedative.'

Rough conditions made the animal hard to reach and hindered rescue efforts, leaving members of the public to watch as the whale became increasingly distressed

They added: 'The whale is estimated to be approximately 50 feet and 50,000-70,000 pounds.'

Over the next few hours, rescue services in boats tried and failed to reach the whale. 

Drone photos showed the whale surrounded by a dark liquid in the water that onlookers worried was blood. But the city said: 'According to Mote Marine, the reddish liquid in the one photo is ink, not blood. 

'Like squids, sperm whales can produce a dark, inky liquid that helps them escape from predators. They can also produce it when they are in distress. It is fairly typical to see before a whale passes.'

By Sunday evening, the whale suffered from labored breathing and died around 3am the next day. 

In the afternoon, officials dragged its body onto the beach and cut it open to perform a necropsy and said that the mammal was underweight for a healthy adult whale.