By ALEX SILVERMAN
KIRO Radio

A severely injured whale off the shores of Olympia has little chance of survival, an expert said Thursday.

The animal is either a sei or Bryde's whale, said biologist John Calambokidis with Cascadia Research. "Both would be extremely rare. The sei is endangered and is rarely seen off the West Coast. The Bryde's is a more tropical species not usually seen north of southern California."

The 40-foot whale is suffering from a large, deep gash on its back, probably caused by a collision with a fast-moving boat. The injuries are making it difficult for the animal to surface normally.

"It almost looks like part of its back has erupted. There's ragged tissue around the edges of it," Calambokidis said.

The whale has been spotted several times in Totten Inlet since Nov. 25, but reports going back to Nov. 13 could be the same animal, Calambokidis said.

Calambokidis does not think the whale will survive.

"We've had a few other injuries that have been pretty severe where the whales have survived, but none have been quite this bad," he said.

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• More photos of the injured whale