A body of a 28-foot-long female sperm whale has been found washed ashore on private property north of Port Aransas.

The Port Aransas Coordinator with the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Tony Amos, tells Corpus Christi television station KRIS the whale discovered early this week on San Jose Island was in bad shape and likely died some time ago. Samples from the remains have been taken to try to find out a cause of death.

He says it's been eight years since a whale has washed ashore in the area.

Amos is discouraging people from trying to reach the remains since it's possible viruses on the animal could be transferable to humans. Port Aransas is about 20 miles east of Corpus Christi on the Gulf of Mexico.