THE legacy of a whale washed up on Killarney Beach on Friday morning will live on.
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The dead pygmy right whale calf that washed up on a section of the beach near The Cutting will go to Museum Victoria for research purposes.
Department of environment, land, water and planning (DELWP) senior biodiversity officer Mandy Watson said the two-metre whale was identified from photos as a juvenile male.
“This is a very valuable specimen that Museum Victoria is keen to study and add to its collection for research on the evolution of whales,” Ms Watson said.
This is a very valuable specimen that Museum Victoria is keen to study and add to its collection.
- Mandy Watson
“Pygmy Right Whales are known to feed on copepod crustaceans and krill.
“They are rarely seen in the wild with their distribution in the Southern Hemisphere only between 30 and 52 degrees south.”
Museum Victoria will arrange a necropsy on the whale in conjunction with Zoos Victoria to try to determine its cause of death.
The public is reminded to report all whale strandings (alive or dead) to the DELWP whale and dolphin emergency hotline 1300 136 017.
