Rare beaked whale found dead near Byron Bay, Australia

Rare beaked whale washes up dead

A rare whale has been found washed up on the state's far north coast.

The Gray's Beaked whale was discovered on Seven Mile Beach, south of Byron Bay.

Lawrence Orel, from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, said whales which beach themselves are usually sick.

He said scientists will be keen to examine the skeleton.

"The beaked whales are quite rare," Mr Orel said.

"They're generally found in the deep ocean, so it's quite rare for them to be seen close to shore.

"But stranded beaked whales are of considerable interest to the science community, and this is possibly a Gray's Beaked whale, which is one of the more unusual species.

"The carcass will be buried and... all the organisms that live in the sand will proceed to do their thing.

"In about 18 months to two years time you end up with a nice clean skeleton which becomes very interesting and valuable to science."

Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://bit.ly/1xcsdoI.