The carcass of a rare beaked whale that died yesterday after stranding itself in shallow water on Moloka'i was flown to Honolulu last night 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 Aquatic Resources, said he didn't know the species of the 15-foot-long, 2,000-pound beaked whale.

Puleloa said he learned of the stranding in Kawela, a few miles east of Kaunakakai town, at 7:30 a.m.

There are at least 20 known species of beaked whales in the family Ziphiidae, but little is known about them. Beaked whales are believed to feed on or near the ocean floor.

Puleloa had never seen a beaked whale before.

"It was alive but obviously in distress," he said.

Efforts to keep the mammal alive failed. NOAA officials, with help from Moloka'i fire, police, public works personnel and volunteers, were 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 Chief Petty Officer Seth Haynes, Coast Guard spokesman.