https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/e2-80-98most-popular-whale-in-california-e2-80-99-dies-after-being-hit-by-ship-and-washes-up-on-beach/ar-AA11jRst

Sacramento BeeFollow

View Profile

Maddie Capron, The Sacramento Bee-Yesterday 9:50 AM

ReactComments|20

• Share
• Save

Support journalism

Fran the whale was the mostpopular humpback in California.

For years, the 17-year-old whale gained the love of tourists and whale watchers in the state. She became the most photographed and most beloved, according to the Bay Area News Group.

On Sunday, Aug. 28, her nearly50-foot body was foundwashed up on California’s Manhattan Beach, SF Gate reported.

Fran died after she wasstruck by a ship, according to the online database Happy Whale. Her skull was detached from her spine, SF Gate reported.

“Ship strikes are tragic,” Ted Cheeseman, founder of Happy Whale, told SF Gate. “This is the most beautiful animal in the world, being killed literally as road kill.”

Fran was born in 2005 and was the daughter of Big Fin. She…