Was it alive and swimming, or had it died long ago, or was it dying now, right this second?

A blue whale, the world's largest mammal, was found washed ashore near Fort Bragg this week. The whale, a female, was spotted near Fort Bragg in Mendocino County on Monday night a few "hours after an ocean survey vessel reported hitting a whale a few miles away," reports AP.

The 70-foot whale was found dead. She had large gashes on her body, some of them measuring 8 feet long.

This makes the second dead blue whale discovered along the California Coast in two weeks. NOAA wildlife biologist Joe Cordaro goes on to tell AP that while it's rare for blue whales to wash ashore, last week another blue whale turned up in Monterey County. That whale also died as a result of being hit by a large ship.

Associated Press via SFist