Authorities on the Oregon Coast warned gawkers to keep their hands off a dead, beached gray whale. Meanwhile, a Craigslist posting in which someone offered money for pieces of the whale has been pulled.

A KGW viewer reported the posting, which encouraged illegal taking of whale parts.

 SLIDESHOW: Photos of beached whale

Passers-by have not only been touching the dead mammal, they have also taken "souvenirs" from the carcass -- including baleen from its mouth, according to Jim Rice with the Hatfield Marine Science Center. The whale uses those long, straw like fibers to filter food from the water.

 Background: Whale washes up on Ore. Coast

Rice said that it’s illegal to interfere with a dead whale because they are federally protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. And he also warned that it’s "the equivalent of touching a dead raccoon on the side of the road…You don't know if it is diseased.”

Anyone who is caught taking part of the animal could face a fine as high as $10,000.

The 37-foot female whale washed up on the beach south of Newport last weekend. Authorities don't know how it died.

The Oregon State Parks Department was trying to find a burial place for the whale but it is beached in an area that is too rocky to dig into. Instead, authorities said they were searching for a different site.