Whale found dead on a Mississippi Beach

A dead whale washed ashore on a Mississippi Beach in Pass Christian around 9:40 a.m. on Saturday.

Multiple agencies are working to determine what happened as a autopsy is scheduled for Sunday. It weighs at an estimate 15,000 pounds and being 30 feet long and could possibly be a Rice’s whale, also known as the Gulf of Mexico whale.

Denise Boyd, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, will lead the team in performing the animal autopsy.