Beached whale washes onto Marin beach

A small whale has washed onto a beach near Abbotts Lagoon in the Point Reyes National Seashore, a spokeswoman for the Marine Mammal Center said Thursday afternoon.

Someone left a voice message about the beached whale around 2:45 p.m. with Golden Gate National Recreation Area officials, which then contacted the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito around 3:15 p.m., according to Yvette Coth, with the Marine Mammal Center’s marketing strategy office.

National Park Service rangers planned to move the whale above the tide line late this afternoon so it would not wash out to sea, Coth said. The area is remote and not safely accessible after dark, and the Marine Mammal Center and California Academy of Sciences plan to retrieve the whale Friday morning, Coth said.

Coth said the whale, believed to be a pygmy sperm whale, is 5-6 feet long. She did not know if it is alive or dead.