The carcass of a rare deep-sea beaked whale which died today after stranding itself in shallow water on Moloka'i was flown tonight to Honolulu aboard a Coast Guard C-130 at the request of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA officials were unavailable for comment but Bill Puleloa, a Moloka'i-based biologist for the state's Division of Acquatic Resources, said the species of the 15-foot long, 2,000-pound beaked whale was not immediately known. Puleloa said he learned of the stranding in Kawela, a few miles east of Kaunakakai town, at 7:30 a.m.

There are less than two dozen known species of beaked whales in the family Ziphiidae and little is known about them. Beaked whales are deep divers who feed on or near the ocean floor.

Puleloa had never seen beaked whale until today. "It was alive but obviously in distress," Puleloa said.

Efforts to keep the mammal alive failed and NOAA officials with help from Moloka'i fire and public works personnel and equipment was able to remove the carcass and bring it to Honolulu for research. The C-130 landed at Barbers Point at 8 p.m., according to Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer Seth Haynes.