Washington waterfront owners asked to take dead whales

PORT HADLOCK, Wash. (AP) – Officials are asking Washington state waterfront landowners to volunteer their properties as the final resting places for dead gray whales.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries says so many gray whale carcasses have washed up this year that the agency has run out of places where they can be taken to decompose.

So the agency this week asked landowners for help getting rid of the carcasses up to 40 feet (12 meters) long.

The agency says about 30 whales have stranded on Washington’s coast this year, the most in two decades.

The agency says landowners volunteering sites can support the natural process of the marine environment.

Officials say skeletons left behind can be used for educational purposes.

Officials say the gray whale population remains strong at about 27,000.