A rarely seen species of whale has been found washed up dead on Bermuda's shores.

Now the whale's skeleton is to go on display at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo as a historic record of the stranding.

The whale -- believed to be a female True's Beaked Whale -- was found by Eugene Woods of Cambridge Beaches lodged in between rocks below one of the hotel's cottages.

It was refloated at high tide the next day and taken to Daniel's Head where it was pulled up onto beach and examined by a team of local scientists.

The team took measurements and photographs of the whale as well as tissue samples before stripping it of flesh and reducing it to a skeleton.

"Everything we collect are clues that help us learn more about the biology of the animal,'' said Lisa Greene, of the Aquarium.

"The more we know about the animal, the better we will be able to protect it.

"We were unable to determine a cause of death or even the health of the animal because so much of it was missing by the time BAMZ staff first saw it,'' she added.

There are about 20 known different species of Beaked Whales, which range in size from 13 feet to 42 feet, but they are still the least known of all cetaceans.

Most of the species have been discovered through the whales being washed ashore dead and there have only been a few encounters at sea -- mainly because they are known to live in deep water far from land.

So little is known about the species that it is not known whether the 17 foot whale, which was found on Sunday, was migrating past Bermuda or if it lives near the Island.

"The BAMZ has been involved in helping with stranded marine mammals for many years,'' said Mrs. Greene.

"If the animal is found alive all efforts are made to help it out to sea, but if it is dead, as is often the case, we retrieve as much as we can for the scientific record.'' She added: "In recent years we have had a Finback whale and a Sperm whale and before that there were Cuvier Beaked whales and a Pigmy sperm whale.

"At the moment there are skeletons of those two whales on display at the BAMZ which is here to inspire an interest in and an appreciation for Island environments.

"Specimens such as whale skeletons on exhibit can help us achieve that aim.''