Whales wash up dead near Mexico's Baja coast

MEXICO CITY, Aug 5 (Reuters) Eleven beaked whales were washed up on beaches near Mexico's sparsely populated Baja California peninsula and all of them died, the country's environmental protection agency said.

The whales were found earlier this week mostly on islands in the Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California, and had been dead for several days, an official at the Profepa agency said yesterday.

He said the cause of the whales' deaths was being investigated. A group of squid, which the whales feed on, was also found dead nearby.

Beaked whales are small and carnivorous and feed by a unique mechanism known as suction feeding in which they suck prey into their mouths.

Reuters VJ GC0700