Carcass of small whale washes up on Haifa beach

A 15-foot whale was found dead on a Haifa beach on Monday, the Parks and Nature Authority said.

The beached Cuvier’s beaked whale was discovered by a ranger at Dor Beach.

The parks authority was working to transport the carcass for testing to determine the cause of death.

Dr. Aviad Sheinin of the Israel Marine Mammal Research & Assistance Center told the Ynet news website in 2012 that an average of 15 whale and dolphin carcasses wash ashore per year.

Many of those incidents take place in the Haifa area.

In 2008, at the nearby Carmel Beach in Haifa, a 22-foot Cuvier beaked whale washed up on shore, according to the Walla news site.

Live whales in the Mediterranean have also on occasion been spotted by swimmers along the coast.

Last May, beach-goers in the resort city of Eilat were treated to a rare sight when a 20-meter (65-foot) blue whale was seen off the Red Sea coast.