What appeared to be a rare type of whale that got stuck in shallow waters near the Emeryville Marina Tuesday morning was euthanized after struggling into the afternoon, officials with the Marine Mammal Center said.

Marine Mammal Center officials announced the sad outcome at around 4:40 p.m.

"Unfortunately, today the whale became trapped and was unable to be freed from the mudflat. Because this animal was suffering and had little chance of survival, our experts made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize," Marine Mammal Center officials said in a post on X.  

"While not the outcome we hoped for, it was in the best interest of this whale," officials added. Scientists also said the whale had been exhibiting strange behavior and it seemed unlikely it would be able to swim to deeper water when the tide came in later Tuesday evening.

Experts said the whale appeared to be in good condition, but its skin was peeling and appeared to be healing from a sunburn. A partial necropsy is planned, but it will take several weeks for results to be released.  

Aerial footage caught the whale floating just off the shore with a number of people on the beach observing it. Marine Mammal Center officials said they believed it was a juvenile minke whale based on photographic evidence. Emeryville Fire Department units also responded to the scene along with police. Firefighters tried to help by dousing the whale with water from a hose early in the day.

Officials said the same whale had originally been spotted swimming in the vicinity last Wednesday.

It was also seen in the same area Monday afternoon immersed in mud in shallow bay water off Emeryville during low tide, but the whale was later seen moving into deeper waters during high tide a couple of hours later.

"The animal swam well under its own strength with good energy which our experts noted as a good sign," said the Marin Mammal Center Associate Director of Public Relations Giancarlo Rulli.

The exact age, sex, estimated length and other details about the whale were unknown, he said. 

Rulli said experts "also noted it appears to be in good body condition and has peeling white skin that appears to be healing from an unknown trauma or skin condition. The affected area was red in appearance on April 2 before the latest sighting."

Rulli said such sightings are rare in San Francisco Bay, but not unprecedented. If confirmed to be a minke whale, the incident would be the fifth documented sighting in the past 16 years, according to the MMC.

San Francisco Bay has seen a recent influx of gray whales, including one that washed ashore dead on a Marin County beach in late March.