LONG BEACH - State parks officials have hired a contractor to bury a 50-foot humpback whale that washed up on the Long Beach Peninsula.

Cape Disappointment State Park says a crew will bury it on the beach Friday after it's examined by scientists from Cascadia Research.

Long Beach residents have been stopping at the beach to look at the carcass since it washed ashore Wednesday about a half mile south of Klipsan beach.

Humpbacks usually swim 10 to 20 miles off the coast.