A pygmy sperm whale found on a Southern California beach died despite the efforts of a large group of people to help carry it to a SeaWorld San Diego rescue vehicle.

The whale beached itself at Carlsbad on the San Diego County coast Thursday afternoon and help was summoned.

A crowd helped carry the whale, estimated to weigh 600 to 900 pounds off the beach and up a rocky hillside. But the whale died during transport.

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"We’d like to thank the community, especially the many people (maybe up to 100 beachgoers) that supported the rescue team and helped carry and bring the animal to the transport unit," SeaWorld said in a statement reported by KGTV.

A necropsy was planned to try to determine the cause of death.