Cuvier Beaked Whale Found Dead

Back on January 24th, 2007 it was reported that a beaked whale had been stranded at Morgan's Bay in South Africa. Now, another rare whale has been found on Orkney Beach.

Whale death offers rare chance of study
DAVID HARTLEY

A RARE whale has been found dead on an Orkney beach far from its usual ocean home.
The 20ft Cuvier's beaked whale would normally inhabit deep water far from land.

Mystery surrounds its discovery on a rocky shoreline at Warebeth near the town of Stromness.

But samples taken from the adult male will help scientists discover more about this rarely seen species. Cuvier's beaked whales are found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, but are shy animals that usually keep well away from shipping.

The animal washed up in Orkney is only the fifth to be found in the islands since 1920.
"Little is known about them because they live in very deep water," said Chris Booth, an Orkney-based cetacean expert.

"It's very rare for them to be seen close in shore, so it's only when there's a stranding that we get the chance to find out more about them."

A bone sample taken from one of the whale's flippers will be examined first at an Edinburgh museum and then in Australia, where scientists are keen to study the DNA it contains