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A 40-ton gray whale surfaced beside me — spy-hopping, they call it — her towering grace lifting from the water, close enough that I could see the walnut shine of her left eye.

Last week, a dead gray whale was also found washed ashore on Huntington Beach.

A dead 50-foot gray whale washed ashore in Huntington Beach on Friday, according to officials with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.

That sighting occurred a day after an 18-foot gray whale swam in the shallow waters from 1st Place to 72nd Place.

Over the weekend, a 38-foot-long female gray whale washed ashore at Dockweiler State Beach, prompting an outpouring of grief from marine mammal lovers and leaving an important question etched into the sand — what killed her?