dead gray whale
© Mark Harrison / The Seattle TimesA research team with the Cascadia Research Collective, conducts a necropsy on a 27-foot long gray whale found Monday.

A second gray whale has been found dead in Puget Sound. KIRO-TV reports the carcass washed up Monday on a beach near Blaine.

A whale expert says it's a little unusual to have two dead gray whales in Puget Sound at the same time.

John Calambokidis of Cascadia Research in Olympia planned to take part in Tuesday's necropsy on the whale that washed ashore Monday near Blaine.

Another dead gray whale was found floating Sunday near Camano Island. Howard Garret of the Orca Network on Whidbey Island says an attempt to tow it to a beach for a necropsy was unsuccessful. He says it drifted across the south end of Whidbey Island Monday night, and the network is still hoping to locate it again for testing.

Calambokidis says a half-dozen gray whales typically die each year in Washington waters during their migrations between waters off Mexico and Alaska.