SAMISH ISLAND, Skagit County — At the 61-foot fin whale’s tail, a woman crouched on the bloodied sand, closed her eyes and sang softly. Near the whale’s head, two other women set up their cellphones on a tripod, smiled and posed for photos. Equal parts somber scene and spectacle, hundreds of people descended on the normally quiet beach on Samish Island last week for what would likely be a once-in-a-lifetime viewing: an endangered fin whale, known for its size and speed, close enough to touch its rubbery skin and hear the hisses of gas buildup in its carcass. The 80,000-pound whale got stranded on the Skagit County coastline and died Tuesday . Now an endangered animal was decomposing in the beach community’s backyard, and Samish Island residents soon began to wonder what would become of the carcass. The whale was starting to smell, with squares of its insides, cut by researchers for a necropsy, dripping out.…