The whale that turned up dead in Lummi Bay is either a sei or a fin whale. Scientists are still trying to determine which one. Both species are endangered.

"That is so big," said a man on beach of the Lummi Reservation as he peered through binoculars at the body of a dead whale just off shore Sunday afternoon. "That is amazing, look how big that thing is!"

Even after seeing it, it's still hard to believe.

Dozens of onlookers stared at the huge creature that dwarfed small boats circling beside it.

The whale's body was spotted in the bay near Bellingham on Sunday. Locals took kayaks out to get an up-close look.

"You don't realize how large they are until you get up close," said Armondo Brionz who paddled out to see the whale. "Then you see how massive they are and it just… puts you in awe."

Scientists were on scene by late afternoon trying to figure out what happened. It's rare to see sei or fin whales because both were hunted nearly to extinction 100 years ago. Both species are listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

It is even more rare to see those whales in Puget Sound inland waters. "Very unusual," said Sue Murphy, a wildlife technician who was investigating the whale's death on Sunday. "In fact, we don't see these guys in the inland waters at all."

What the adult male was doing near shore and how it died are key questions that biologists want answered. And they believe that this whale may offer the needed clues, because unlike most animals that die in the ocean, the whale did not sink to the bottom.

"They tell us a lot when they die," Murphy said. "It's like CSI in the wild or in the marine mammal aspect. We try to determine cause of death and learn as much as we can from that animal."

But while scientists looked to the whale for answers on Sunday, most of the area residents just stood back to take in the unusual sight.

"It is amazing," said another onlooker in a boat nearby. "I feel very small next to it."

"It would have been beautiful to see it alive and moving," said Brionz. "But this is as close as I'll probably ever get to one."

Scientists and researches will contact Lummi Nation tribal officials on Monday to coordinate continuing the investigation into the whale's death.