FLORENCE, Ore. (AP) -- Marine mammal experts plan to examine a 40-foot whale that washed up on a beach near Heceta Head on Sunday.
 
Jim Rice, who coordinates a volunteer network that responds to stranded marine mammals, told The Oregonian newspaper that the group wants to learn why the whale became stranded -- such as an injury or an illness.
 
The whale washed up near Florence earlier in the weekend, but waves refloated it Saturday night.
 
The state Department of Parks and Recreation says it appears to be a fin whale.
 
Its presence led the department to close Heceta Head State Scenic Viewpoint and the Devil's Elbow beach. State officials remind beachgoers that tampering with a whale carcass is a federal crime.