Whale That Washed Ashore on Zuma Beach to Be Euthanized

A pygmy sperm whale that washed ashore at Zuma Beach in Malibu Friday was to be euthanized, officials said.

The female whale, about 10 feet long and a thousand pounds, was discovered on the shoreline at 7:45 a.m. Friday, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said.

NewsChopper4 captured footage of beachgoers trying to help push the mammal back into the water, without much luck.

After this, authorities took the whale to a rescue van for treatment, where wildlife experts were called to come help treat the animal.

Experts said the prognosis for survival did not look good, despite the intensive effort to save it.

After consulting with experts at Sea World in San Diego, the best option for the whale to prevent suffering would be to euthanize it, they said.

"Because of the situation, it's much better to humanely euthanize the animal rather than put it through a long journey to Sea World, put it through all that stress and time out of the water, when it's prognosis is unfortunate very poor," said Stephanie Lewis of the California Wildlife Center.