A whale’s sad tale: Humpback killed by ship near Half Moon Bay was a well-known visitor

Researchers say a humpback whale that was struck by a ship and washed ashore Aug. 28 in Half Moon Bay was a well-known humpback named Fran.

Scientists at the Marine Mammal Center in the Marin Headlands and their partners at whale data organization Happywhale confirmed Fran’s death Monday during a necropsy. The official cause was blunt force trauma.