A rare pygmy sperm whale has washed ashore the Cayman Islands and died.
Officials with the Department of Environment say a necropsy will be performed to determine why the whale died.
A agency deputy director Tim Austin, told The Caymanian Compass newspaper on Friday that the whale was 9 feet (3 meters) long and did not present any obvious signs as to why it stranded itself.
He said the whale was apparently alive when spotted late Thursday by residents on Beach Bay in Grand Cayman.
Pygmy sperm whales are elusive and live deep in the waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.
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