A rare Omura’s whale has been found washed up on a West Australian beach, giving scientists a chance to learn more about the species.

The rarely sighted whale was discovered on a remote beach at Exmouth, at the tip of the state’s North West Cape, after Tropical Cyclone Olwyn tore through the area last month.

It is the first sighting of the species in WA and only the second in Australia.

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Identifying the 5.68-metre juvenile female was difficult for Department of Parks and Wildlife staff, but DNA profiling confirmed it was an Omura’s whale.

WA Environment Minister Albert Jacob said the find was “highly significant” for whale scientists because very little was known about the species.

“Omura’s whale was only described in scientific journals for the first time in 2003 and is apparently restricted to tropical and subtropical waters,” he said.

“The knowledge we gain from this whale will help to improve field identification guides to better understand the whale’s regional distribution.”

The species is usually found in Indonesian waters, the Philippines and the Sea of Japan.

Second ever sighting in Australia

Department of Parks and Wildlife officer Doug Coughran said it was the first recorded sighting of the species in Western Australia and only the second nationally.

He said the discovery was extremely valuable to the scientific community.

“It’s a species that has similarities to others but nothing that was obvious other than that hooked dorsal fin and there’s not a lot known about how they look in the field because there’s so few records and very little in the literature about key identifying features and that’s what we’re trying to establish and this will help,” Mr Coughran said.

“Collectively we’ve written a manuscript to a journal for peer review and once it gets through that process it then contributes to the extension of the range.

“It was not thought to be that far south in the eastern side of the Indian Ocean – it was only known from the waters north of the equator and down as far as the Indonesian waters and across to New Guinea.”

Mr Coughran praised the work of those near Exmouth who helped get him DNA samples so soon after the cyclone hit.

“What’s likely to have happened was it’s brought up, dumped by its own weight and died during the dark hours of the night and wasn’t found until the morning,” he said.

“The fact that they [the residents] all came out of their cyclone shelters that morning and the first phone call they got I think was from me asking them to bolt up there and find it and then get hold of a sample … they did a terrific job when you consider all the debris all around.”

Omura’s whales have a sleek body shape and several unique skeletal features, including 53 vertebrae and four digits on each pectoral fin.

The carcass has been buried and the skeleton will be recovered in a few years for further scientific investigation and possibly for public display in museums.