Authorities are investigating the death of a whale whose body washed up on the shores of South Padre Island.
The pygmy sperm whale’s body was first spotted 2.7 miles north of Beach Access 6 on Sunday afternoon.
The whale’s 13-foot corpse was taken to the UTPA Coastal Studies Lab salvaged the whale and took the body for analysis.
Officials said there were no visible signs of wounds of lacerations and the body was not in a state of decomposition.
Authorities are investigating if the whale may have been a victim of the red tide after possibly eating contaminated fish.
Organ tissues were collected and sent to a Texas A&M lab in Galveston for toxicology and herpetology tests.
