A rare saber-toothed dead whale washed ashore in Venice Beach, California, the most unlikely place.

Venice Beach is the most unusual place to find a dead whale lying around and especially not a rare saber-toothed, dolphin-shape headed one.  The Stejneger's beaked whale is very rarely spotted in the wild and thus, proved to be a visual treat for many who are interested in wildlife and nature.

The female saber-toothed whale washed ashore in Venice Beach Tuesday evening and lay on the beach all night until it was loaded onto the bed of a truck early Wednesday and taken for an autopsy.

"We were very lucky," said Nick Fash, an education specialist for Heal the Bay. "These whales are incredibly rare and almost never seen in the wild."

The whale's body was covered in cookie-cutter shark bites. The cookie-cutter shark is known to feed on plugs of flesh from larger animals. The autopsy will reveal more about the cause of death of the whale. It will also provide more information about this rare species, that scientist know so less about.

Despite being covered in bites, Fash confirmed that the whale's body was preserved in a pretty good condition. He also assumes that the mammal might have been alive when it washed ashore and died on the beach later. The well preserved body will make it easier for scientists to learn more about the lives of these elusive mammals and also about their diet.

Finding the whale on Venice Beach makes the discovery all the more interesting, considering the mammal prefers subarctic waters where they can feed on smaller deep-water fish and cephalopods like squids.  The species spend most of their lives in subarctic water and very seldom migrate south down within range of Northern California.

Their tusk-like teeth that jut out from their lower jaws are symbolic of the male Stejneger's beaked whale. Female and young Stejneger's beaked whales have their teeth hidden between gum tissues in their mouth. Saber-toothed whales are generally found in groups of 3 or 4. However, in a very close group, this number can go up to 15. They have age and sex segregations within the group. Males of the same group are believed to fight aggressively with each other. The males grow up to 5.25 meters (17 feet 6 inches) and females 5.5 meters (18 feet). They are likely around 2.1 to 2.3 meters long (7 to 8 feet) when born.