Video shows beached whale washed up on shore of Myrtle Beach

Some beachgoers in Myrtle Beach came across a rare, and sad, sight Monday — a whale had beached itself near 48th Avenue.

A video posted by WPDE-15 Chief Meteorologist Ed Piotrowski shows the whale stuck in the sand as the waves partially cover its body. A viewer sent the video to Piotrowski, and it circulated across Twitter and Facebook Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning.

Piotrowski asked if anyone knew what happened to the whale, as the person who shot the video couldn’t stay around to see. He posted a follow-up tweet saying he’d learned the whale had died and was removed from the beach.

Thousands of whales and dolphins beach themselves, or strand themselves, every year across the globe, according to National Geographic. Some locations, like Cape Cod in Massachusetts or the Farewell Spit in New Zealand, are prone to beached animals because they are too shallow for animals to navigate, since they’re designed for deep water.

There are several reasons why a whale or dolphin might beach themselves, including being sick or injured. But human activities, like fishing, can also cause the sea creatures to beach themselves.