It looks like a dolphin, but this is a Sowerby's Beaked Whale. It's the second one to wash up in Hampton Roads this year.
The first one was in January on the Eastern Shore.
Pathologists are performing a necropsy on the whale right now. Researchers say they don't know much about this particular whale.
"Of course we would like to know cause of death and learn about their natural history. We don't see these animals very often especially out in the wild," said Christina Trapani of the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team.
Scientists do know that these types of whales live about 80 miles off shore and can dive as deep as 6000 feet. They can stay under water for about an hour, and are often mistaken for the bottle-nosed dolphins.
The Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team is trying to find out how this one died.
It washed up on Buckroe Beach, weighs about 800 pounds, and is about 13 feet long. A person driving by the beach reported it Sunday morning and the stranding response team was called in.
"This is a different type of whale than the bottle-nosed dolphins. This is actually a more off-shore species, a larger species and more deep diving species, and there is a lot less known about this than the bottle-nosed dolphin."
Trapani added, "from what I understand, the head is going to a scientist who will look at it more closely and test the ears, and then of course everything will be looked at under a microscope."
A pathologist was called in from the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research, and a marine mammal expert from UNC-Wilmington.
"For an animal this rare, it really provides us with more expertise so we are excited to have them both here," Trapani said.
Some researchers believe Navy sonar may cause the whales to beach. They say sonar disorients the whales and sends them swimming in the wrong direction. According to the Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, only five beaked whale strandings over the past 13 years have been directly linked to sonar.
Pathologists are performing a necropsy on the whale right now. Researchers say they don't know much about this particular whale.
"Of course we would like to know cause of death and learn about their natural history. We don't see these animals very often especially out in the wild," said Christina Trapani of the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team.
Scientists do know that these types of whales live about 80 miles off shore and can dive as deep as 6000 feet. They can stay under water for about an hour, and are often mistaken for the bottle-nosed dolphins.
The Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team is trying to find out how this one died.
It washed up on Buckroe Beach, weighs about 800 pounds, and is about 13 feet long. A person driving by the beach reported it Sunday morning and the stranding response team was called in.
"This is a different type of whale than the bottle-nosed dolphins. This is actually a more off-shore species, a larger species and more deep diving species, and there is a lot less known about this than the bottle-nosed dolphin."
Trapani added, "from what I understand, the head is going to a scientist who will look at it more closely and test the ears, and then of course everything will be looked at under a microscope."
A pathologist was called in from the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research, and a marine mammal expert from UNC-Wilmington.
"For an animal this rare, it really provides us with more expertise so we are excited to have them both here," Trapani said.
Some researchers believe Navy sonar may cause the whales to beach. They say sonar disorients the whales and sends them swimming in the wrong direction. According to the Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, only five beaked whale strandings over the past 13 years have been directly linked to sonar.
