A rare beaked whale washed up on a beach in Australia on Tuesday.
It was over ten feet long and found at Redhead Beach near Sydney.
Experts were excited about the find and have taken parts of the dead whale to the Australian Museum in Sydney, where the whale will be examined and studied.
“It is sad but also exciting as we can learn so much more about the animal,” Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia president Ronny Ling said. “We don’t know much about them, we rarely get to see them. We have taken samples and measurements and will remove the head and send it to the Australian Museum. The jaws will be X-rayed and together with DNA it should confirm the species of beaked whale.”
Rare Beaked Whale Washes Up On Australian Beach: http://t.co/g3eYGBacIC via @mashable
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Little is known about beaked whales because they live in the deepest parts of the ocean and are rarely seen.
It is rare for beaked whales to be in warm or shallow waters and scientists are not sure how the whale died or why it washed ashore where it did. They are hoping they can learn more about it while studying the animal’s remains.
“You don’t normally see a beaked whale come into these waters; it’s an oceanic animal and it’s usually going to be way out in very deep offshore waters,” Marine biologist Elise Bailey told ABC radio, adding that it was too early to say why the whale died.
“It could be sick, it could be old, it could have had some trauma,” she said.
Scientists plan to share the results of their studies in upcoming weeks and are excited to find out more about the elusive beaked whale and how it ended up in Australia.