Rare beaked whale washes up on beach in Australia

A rare beaked whale has washed up on a beach in Australia.

The whale was found on Redhead Beach, 150 kilometres north of Sydney, and is thought to have died at sea.

Little is known about the species because it has long dive times and favours such deepwater habitats.

A study published this year in the journal PLOS ONE showed one tagged Cuvier's beaked whale dived to 2,992 metres, while another stayed underwater for 137.5 minutes.

Both feats represented new mammalian dive records, reports iol.co.za.

Post by ORRCA Inc.

The Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) posted pictures of the whale on its Facebook page (above), along with a caption that read: "A rare beaked whale has washed up on a beach near Newcastle this morning.

"These deep sea animals are mainly known from wash-ups and strandings, and not that commonly seen at sea.

"Scientists are still learning much about these unusual whales, as there is so little known about them."

According to iol.co.za, ORRCA president Ronny Ling told AFP: "It is sad but also exciting as we can learn so much more about the animal.

"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."

According to Australia's Daily Telegraph, ORRCA volunteers inspected the beached whale and National Parks and Wildlife Service researchers are expected to take over for further study.