It’s pretty neat to be able to have one like this that is fresh, so we’re using it as a training day as well. This is a great opportunity."”

Sarah Callan, manager of marine rescue at Mystic Aquarium

Marine biologists took advantage of a very rare opportunity Thursday, when dozens walked out to a remote stretch of Little Compton beach to study the remains of a 17-foot minke whale that washed up Wednesday morning.

The female was still alive when it came ashore on Briggs Beach at about 9 a.m. But it died soon after, and biologists from Mystic Aquarium and other organizations spent the day traveling to Little Compton and getting ready for Thursday’s necropsy.

Apart from scientists from Mystic, others came from the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society on Long Island, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and Whale and Dolphin Conservation USA.

Northern or Common Minkes are not uncommon in the North Atlantic, and females can reach 35 feet in length. Though its death was unfortunate, Sarah Callan, manager of marine animal rescue at Mystic, said it presented a very rare opportunity to learn, as many of the cetaceans she and other scientists deal with have been dead for some time before they come ashore.

“It’s pretty neat to be able to have one like this that is fresh, so we’re using it as a training day as well,” she said. “This is a great opportunity. Today we can actually get such a great look at all the organs and get some great tissue samples too.”

The whale was discovered about halfway down Briggs Beach, which runs east-west between Sakonnet Point and the Little Compton Town Landing. It washed up into a piping plover nesting area, and crews brought in an earthmover Wednesday to drag it about 50 yards east, away from the birds’ habitat.

Callan said there were no obvious signs of injury, but there were scars and healed marks from a previous entanglement on its head and fin areas. She said it will likely take some time before a cause of death is determined.

While about three dozen biologists and interns worked on the animal, taking tissue samples and collecting other data, a DEM police officer and guards from the private Briggs Beach kept the curious away.

And before the necropsy began, responders honored the whale’s spirit, on behalf of the Wampanoag Nation.

“We did want to give a blessing for this animal and its spirit, so we said a few words and had some tobacco that we sprinkled over the whale and into the water as well,” Callan said.

The whale will be buried where it lies when the study is complete.