The Elusive Cetacean

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Earlier this month, a whale washed ashore on a beach at Taieri Mouth in New Zealand’s southern Otago province.

Beached cetaceans are not new in New Zealand – it is a hotspot for marine mammal strandings – but this one was no ordinary whale: It was a spade-toothed whale, a species considered one of the world’s rarest marine mammals.

Marine scientists and officials of the Department of Conservation (DOC) said the whale was about 16 feet long and was identified based on its color patterns, skull shape, beak and teeth.

To date, no beached spade-toothed whales have ever been found alive, according to USA Today.

“Spade-toothed whales are one of the most poorly known large mammalian species of modern times,” said DOC Coastal Otago operations manager Gabe Davies in a statement. “Since the 1800s, only six samples have ever been documented worldwide, and all but one of these was from New Zealand. From a scientific and conservation point of view, this is huge.”

The species was first described in 1874 from a lower jaw and two teeth found on Pitt Island, New Zealand. Previous specimens were often misidentified and buried before DNA testing could confirm their species.

Researchers explained that the species is a member of the beaked whales group, which consists of 21 species. The creatures primarily feed on squid and fish, but have been difficult to study because of their deep-diving nature and infrequent surfacing.

The discovery of the cryptic animal is a boon for scientists, who are rushing to analyze its remains to learn more about them, including their behavior and habitat.

“This is going to lead to some amazing science and world-first information,” Hannah Hendriks, a marine technical adviser for the DOC, told the Associated Press.