Rare whale rescued off SA coast

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A rare pygmy killer whale has been rescued off South Australia's west coast.

The whale was found washed up near Ceduna yesterday.

It is the first sighting of the species in South Australian waters.

The National Parks Service says a team has helped take it out to sea, but it may beach itself again.

The whale was identified by the curator of mammals at the South Australian Museum, Dr Catherine Kemper.

"They're a tropical animal so they don't live in our colder waters down here," she said.

"I suspect this one would have come around perhaps on the Leeuwin Current, that's a very warm current that comes around the corner of WA.

"It's a small animal about the size of a large dolphin but it looks different from a dolphin because it doesn't have a beak, so it's got this kind of bulbous head and it's kind of cute because it's got white lips, it's got this white marking around the mouth and that makes it quite distinctive."