A dead humpback whale that washed ashore last week near Cayucos has been buried.
State Parks says three options were considered regarding removal of the whale: towing it back out to sea, dismembering it and hauling it out or burying it on the beach.
Ultimately, State Parks says the decision was made to bury it. The process was completed Monday.
The whale was first spotted Saturday at Montecito Beach.
Pieter Folkens with the Entangled Whale Response Network says experts believe killer whales attacked the humpback based on the bite marks on the flukes and throat of the carcass.
Folkens added that there is currently no evidence suggesting that human activity or entanglement caused the death of the mammal.
