This article was in this morning's SFGate:
Whale rescue effort in North Bay forced to wait until Friday
and the original article is
here
The marine mammal center believes it to be a pygmy sperm whale based on descriptions and shuld be working on rescuing it by the time I get this posted.
From the article:
A pygmy sperm whale washed ashore a remote beach at Point Reyes National Seashore on Thursday and remained alive and stranded for hours after it was discovered, authorities said.
The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito received reports of the stranded mammal near Abbotts Lagoon about 3:30 p.m., but were unable to get an exact location and learn its condition before it became too dark for an evacuation, center officials said.
...
Pygmy sperm whales are easily confused with dwarf sperm whales, and experts won’t be able to confirm the whale’s species or age until they see it in person, Sherr said. However, pygmy sperm whales are an offshore species that aren’t typically seen because they dwell deep below the water’s surface, she said.
The cause of the stranding is, obviously, unknown as of this time, but it appears to be a solo animal.
9:38 AM PT: Marine Mammal Center - marinemammalcenter.org has nothing on this on its "latest news" tab as of 09:38 Friday 01/09. mmc news-room
12:12 PM PT: SFGate is reporting that the whale died. died. Article & more information about such whales here