Case report A juvenile pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) was found wedged among rocks at a beach near Adelaide, South Australia. It was alive but bleeding from injuries to the ventral surface and flanks. The animal was freed but despite numerous attempts by onlookers to guide it back to sea the whale was not able to swim normally, and each time floated back into shallow waters, rolling over in the one meter high waves. Representatives of the Australian Marine Wildlife Research and Rescue Organization were called and, given the condition of the whale, a decision was made to euthanize it with an intravenous injection of pentobarbitone. A necropsy was performed later that day at the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia. At that time the animal was observed to be a well-nourished juvenile male pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) (length 1.85 m, weight 92.8 kg; dorsal blubber thickness 30 mm) (Fig. 1). The only external signs of injury were multiple linear abrasions with superficial epidermal loss associated with the recent wedging among rocks. Radiological examination did not reveal any projectiles and internal examination did not identify any underlying natural diseases that could have caused or contributed to death. There was no evidence of infection on microbiological workup of blood, urine, and feces. The most significant findings were a thin (1 mm thickness) extradural hematoma in the posterior occipital region not associated with skull fracture. Although there was no overlying bruising, there were extensive areas of superficial abrasion around the head and lower jaw. There were no specific or patterned injuries to the head to suggest that there had been impact from a blunt object. Also present on microscopy was posterior cerebellar subarachnoid hemorrhage (Fig. 2) with focal areas of intraparenchymal hemorrhage in the upper cervical cord. A very early vital reaction was present in the extradural hematoma. There