(CNN) A dead gray whale washed ashore on a San Francisco beach Monday morning -- the ninth such death in the Bay Area this year, scientists at the Marine Mammal Center said.

"The death of nine gray whales in the San Francisco Bay Area this year is a cause for serious concern and reinforces the need to continue to perform and share the results of these type of investigations with key decision-makers," Dr. Padraig Duignan, Chief Research Pathologist at the center, said.

A necropsy will be performed on the whale Tuesday, the Marine Mammal Center said.

1/2: The Marine Mammal Center confirms a dead gray whale washed ashore early this morning at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Our scientists & partners plan to perform a necropsy, or animal autopsy, tomorrow in an attempt to determine the cause of death. 📸 Credit Sarah Maria Curran pic.twitter.com/6sDhSnhz8H — The Marine Mammal Center (@TMMC) May 6, 2019

Blunt force trauma from ships, malnutrition and entanglements are the most common causes of death in whales, the center said. Necropsies have confirmed the cause of seven of the previous eight whale deaths this year. Three whales died from ship strikes and four from malnutrition. The cause of death of the eighth whale has not been determined.

"It is critical for scientists to conduct in-depth necropsies to better understand why animals are dying," the center said in a news release.

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