From time to time the might ocean washes ashore rare and unusual creature and the latest one has scientists all aflutter because an extremely rare sea creature recently washed ashore in Australia. This intriguing 10- to 13-foot creature is thought to be a beaked whale that was discovered about 100 miles north of Sydney at Redhead Beach this week. As it usually is with the extremely rare species, the beaked whale makes its home in deep water well off shore.
“So for a very, very long time not much has been known about them and so every time we even find one that is dead on the beach, it is a treasure trove for the scientists,” Shona Lorigan, vice-president of the Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA), said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
ORRCA is planning on removing the head from the whale and sending it to the Australian Museum in Sydney where researchers will use X-ray scans and DNA testing to help confirm the whale’s species.
A rare beaked whale has washed up on a Newcastle beach this morning ORRCA and local council staff on site #whaleon pic.twitter.com/ttar2WMwKs
— ORRCA (@ORRCA_Inc) October 13, 2014
[via HuffPo]
