A whale has washed ashore on Alcatraz Island, proving once and for all that The Rock really is inescapable — even for marine mammals.

Details are still emerging about the species and size of the whale, as well as what may have caused its death. Whales have been increasingly spotted in and around San Francisco Bay in recent years, which marine biologists generally consider a positive sign for the local ecosystem. But nature, as always, has its own accounting ledger, and not every entry lands in the black.

The real question now is what happens next. If you've ever dealt with a dead whale — and mercifully, most of us haven't — you know it's not exactly a simple cleanup job. Alcatraz is managed by the National Park Service, which means federal dollars and federal bureaucracy will be involved in removal. We'd love to see this handled quickly and efficiently, but given the government's track record on, well, most things, we're not holding our breath. (The whale, sadly, isn't either.)

As one SF resident put it: "Whales have been in and out of the bay a lot. It's sad when they die, but it's also part of nature. I wonder if the coyote out there got a taste." For the uninitiated, yes — Alcatraz has a resident coyote. The island's ecosystem is wilder than you'd think for a former federal prison turned tourist attraction.

The broader takeaway here is actually encouraging. More whale activity in the Bay suggests healthier waters and a recovering marine environment. That's a win. The occasional tragic beaching is a reminder that the natural world doesn't operate on our timeline or our terms.

Here's hoping the cleanup is swift, the coyote gets a good meal, and the next whale that enters the Bay makes it back out to open ocean. Some of us actually like seeing nature thrive — we just don't think taxpayers should have to fund a $2 million environmental impact study to move a carcass off a beach.