Truro - Biologists say for the second time this week a pilot whale has died after washing up on a Massachusetts beach.

An official with the International Fund for Animal Welfare's marine mammal research and rescue team tells the Cape Cod Times an 11-foot long adult whale was reported alive on a sandbar at Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro at about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The mammal was dead by the time rescue crews arrived at the scene. Three or four other pilot whales were spotted swimming offshore when crews arrived.

A necropsy is expected Wednesday.

Another pilot whale died after beaching in Duxbury on Monday.

It's not clear whether the two whale deaths are connected.