Beachgoers at Los Angeles' Venice Beach stumbled upon a Saber-toothed whale carcass washed ashore Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Also known as the Stejneger's beaked whale, the 15-foot animal was loaded onto a truck and taken for an autopsy, offering a rare look into the elusive species.
Nick Fash, an education specialist for Heal the Bay, was so excited about the news that he got on his bike and pedaled down to the site "as fast as I could," he told the Times.
"We were very lucky," Fash, who works at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, said. "These whales are incredibly rare and almost never seen in the wild."
Spotting one is so unusual, in fact, that autopsies are scientists' main source of information regarding the animal, and finding one in such good condition, Fash says, is unheard of. Among other things, the scientist is anxious to see if the autopsy reveals insights into how it died and what it ate.
"This is the best," he said. "[Previous finds] aren't anything like this. This is a treat."
Even before the autopsy began, scientists were able to quickly identify an array of cookie-cutter shark bites on the whale's body. However, while these bites cause harm, they are not deadly.
Saber-toothed whales have a dolphin-like head and, as their name suggests, saber-tooth-like teeth protruding from the bottom jaw. No current estimates of the total population exist, though a 30 percent global reduction over three generations can't be ruled out, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The whale prefers subarctic waters, mostly beyond the edge of the continental shelf, and is believed to be a deep diver, feeding mainly on certain kinds of squid.
The greatest threats facing the whale include the Japanese fishery, though the species does not currently represent the main target of any hunt, and climate change, the IUCN reports.