2004年11月3日,一条罕见鲸鱼的遗体被冲到了澳大利亚新南威尔士的海滩上,人们把它送往澳大利亚博物馆。科学家们初步估计它属于珍稀鲸类--朗曼氏突吻鲸,但后来证实是一种稀有的瓶鼻鲸,具有极大的研究价值。
外电报道如下:
The remains1 of a rare whale washed ashore2 on a northern New South Wales beach are to be sent to the Australian Museum. Originally thought to be a Longman's beaked3 whale, the specimen4 has now been identified as a bottlenose whale.
The whale's body was examined at Byron Bay, where it was stranded5. Dr Sandy Ingelby, from the Australian Museum, says all the body parts have been frozen and researchers at the museum are very excited about receiving this uncommon6 animal.
"It's terrific... these animals you know very little about their biology and the opportunities to find out anything are quite rare," she said.
Beaked whale表示“突吻鲸,喙鲸”,bottlenose whale表示“瓶鼻鲸”。鲸的种类还有很多,比如humpback whale(大翅鲸);blue whale(蓝鲸);gray whale(灰鲸);sperm7 whale(抹香鲸);pygmy sperm whale(小抹香鲸);drawf sperm whale(侏儒抹香鲸)等。