The tally of dead gray whales washing up on Pacific Northwest beaches during this year's northbound migration keeps going up. That's prompting an unusual request for volunteers from a federal agency. So far this year, 30 gray whales have washed ashore dead in Washington waters on top of three more on the Oregon Coast and 37 in California. The West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network is running out of places to tow carcasses that turn up in Puget Sound. So, NOAA Fisheries put out the call Friday for waterfront property owners who wouldn't mind having a dead whale dropped off on their beach to decompose naturally.

The stranding network already has its first taker: a couple who live above a rocky beach south of Port Townsend, Washington. Mario Rivera and Stefanie Worwag said they're interested to watch a whale decay and recycle back to nature.

"It's a temporary thing and also a unique educational opportunity to see how it decomposes," Rivera said in an interview with public radio.

Rivera said the 40-foot gray whale towed to their beach doesn't stink very much nor has it attracted many scavengers, even though it's been dead for about two weeks. The cause of death for the abnormally skinny whale was the same as others in the current die-off, namely, malnutrition from not getting fat enough last year on the feeding grounds in the Arctic.

Rivera said an examination of the stomach contents of the animal found two pieces of plastic and a bunch of eel grass, a seaweed.