A rare deep-water whale sighting happened on a Massachusetts beach on Friday. Biologists with the New England Aquarium are trying to narrow down what may have caused a 17-foot-long carcass of this type of whale to wash ashore.

According to Fox News, the female whale carcass weighed nearly a ton and was discovered on the Jones Beach in Plymouth. Biologists at the acquarium — and staff from the International Fund for Animal Welfare — are performing a necrospy at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Apparently, they think it’s possible the rare whale is a Sowerby’s Beaked Whale.

Several species of Beaked Whales are reportedly found about 200 miles into the North Atlantic offshore.

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