A 10-foot beluga whale was found dead in early May in an educational gillnet set by the Kenaitze Indian Tribe at the mouth of the Kenai River. Tribal representatives told The Redoubt Reporter the whale might have already died before it got caught in the net.
Lindgren said that the crew running the net was on the beach, noticed the whale and called authorities.
"We're not exactly sure what happened, if the beluga was dead and got caught. It looks like it was dead and just it rolled up into the net with the surf action, so we're thinking it was dead or had no strength, because normally they go right through a net," she said.
Barbara Mahoney, with the National Marine Fisheries Service out of Anchorage, said the cause of death wasn't immediately clear.
Read more at The Redoubt Reporter: Beluga dead at river mouth