No one has ever seen a live spade-toothed whale. It is the world's rarest kind of whale. No one knows how many exist, what they eat, or even where they live in the southern Pacific Ocean.
However, scientists in New Zealand may finally get to learn more about them.
The country's conservation agency said Monday it believes a dead spade-toothed whale washed up on a South Island beach earlier this month. Scientists identified the whale by its color patterns and the shape of its skull, beak and teeth.
Very little is known
Hannah Hendriks is a sea life expert for the Department of Conservation. She said, “This is going to lead to some amazing science and world-first information."
In the past, only a few other spade-toothed whales have appeared on New Zealand’s beaches. Scientists did not have a chance to closely examine them. Now, they will be able to. They have moved the whale to a cold place for their investigation.
Tribal groups value whales
Researchers will work with local Māori iwi, or tribal groups, to plan how to examine the whale, the conservation agency said.
New Zealand's Indigenous people consider whales a taonga — a sacred treasure. In April, Pacific Indigenous leaders signed a treaty recognizing whales as "legal persons." However, that is not recognized in the laws of participating nations.
Never seen alive
Spade-tooth whales live deep in the ocean. They come to the surface so rarely that scientists only know their general location in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is home to some of the world's deepest ocean areas, Hendriks said.
"It's very hard to do research on marine mammals if you don't see them at sea," she said. "You don't know where to look."
Kirsten Young is a senior lecturer at Britain’s University of Exeter. She studies spade-toothed whales. She wrote in an email that it took "many years and a mammoth amount of effort by researchers and local people" to identify the whales.
The new discovery "makes me wonder — how many are out in the deep ocean and how do they live?" Young said.
Researchers studying the mammal could not confirm if the species went extinct. Then in 2010, two whole spade-toothed whales, both dead, appeared on a New Zealand beach. Samples of their tissue later showed they were spade-toothed whales.
I’m Jill Robbins.
