(CNN) – A rarely seen and little-understood species of whale washed up on a California beach.
A pygmy sperm whale washed up on the shore at Pismo State Beach on Valentine’s Day.
It’s exciting for scientists because these deep-sea whales are rarely seen and not well understood.
Researchers aren’t even sure how many there are out there.
Workers and volunteers from the Marine Mammal Center and Channel Islands Cetacean Research Unit took samples.
Experts will study those samples to try to figure out what killed the 10-foot-6-inch adult male.
The carcass was left on the beach to decompose over a few weeks.
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