A dead gray whale measuring about 50 feet in length washed up on the shore in Huntington Beach Friday afternoon, the city’s fire department Marine Safety Division said in a social media post on Saturday.  “The City’s Public Works Department has received approval from the National Oceanic a nd Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Mammal Center to proceed with burial of the whale in the early AM.” the social media post stated.  The whale, estimated to weigh at least 60,000 pounds, was spotted near Tower 7 at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Personnel with the marine safety division taped off the area around the whale and alerted the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach.  The marine mammal center responded to the scene on Saturday to perform a field necropsy and examine the whale’s cause of death. The mammal center said that it “doesn’t appear to be a boat strike, shark attack, or entanglement, so the cause of death remains unknown.” Earlier this month, a smaller, minke whale was spotted in the shallow waters of Long Beach’s Rainbow Harbor and was later found dead.     Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were working to determine that animal’s cause of death. The removal of the whale’s body will be handled by the city of Huntington Beach. ...read more read less