Local man Harry Barnes had an unusual find on Cooya Beach last week coming across a beached whale.

Mr Barnes filmed the encounter and said it was stranded on the sandbank at the mouth of the Mossman river.

“I believe it to be either a Pygmy Sperm Whale or Dwarf Whale,” he said.

See video below: Supplied by Harry Barnes.

Mr Barnes added that he had spoken to local Naturalist Ben Croft, who believes it could also be a False Killer Whale, while the injuries the animal had were likely caused by a shark.

“We don’t know how it got there, it’s a long way out of its territory being in shallow water, Mr Barnes said.

“It’s really unusual for it to be that close to the coast and we don’t know why it may have wandered in.

“We tried to roll it because we couldn’t lift it, so we rolled it back into the water and once we got it in deep enough it started breathing again and then it swam off.

“It didn’t look like it was swimming very strongly, and it looked like it beached itself again on the sand bar further out,” he said.

Wildlife rangers were contacted and continued the rescue efforts, but it’s believed the animal did not survive its injuries.

This is not the only unusual sighting Mr Barnes has had on the beach. Three years ago, he stumbled across a Black Marlin beached in the same area.