necropsy

Employees of the center performed a necropsy of the body on Saturday morning.

A necropsy report also revealed that one of the couple's three dogs, which had been crated while recovering from surgery, died from starvation and dehydration.

Her 14-ton carcass offers several immediate clues, said Keith Matassa, chief executive of the Ocean Animal Response and Research Alliance, who is leading a necropsy of the whale to determine her cause of death.

According to necropsies performed on recovered whales, many of them died from collisions with ships.

Officials performed a necropsy, an autopsy for animals, and tissue samples were taken to be analysed.