The World’s Rarest Whale Has Been Dissected For The First Time, And Here’s What Was Discovered In The Process
Back in July, a mysterious whale carcass washed ashore on the South Island of New Zealand. It was 16 feet long and weighed 3,000 pounds.
Cetacean experts were stunned to see that it was a spade-toothed whale. The carcass was in surprisingly good condition, allowing researchers to perform a dissection, which is a first for the species.
The spade-toothed whale is part of the beaked whale family and is considered the rarest whale in the world. Previously, it had only been seen by humans on six occasions—always dead and never under suitable conditions for a proper dissection.
Spade-toothed whales are deep divers and live far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, according to a study conducted in 2012.
“It’s very hard to do research on marine mammals if you don’t see them at sea,” said Hannah Hendriks, a marine technical advisor for the Department of Conservation. “It’s a bit of a needle in a haystack. You don’t where to look.”
Most of what is known about the species is based on samples of lower jaws and teeth collected in 1874 on Pitt Island, which is about 500 miles west of New Zealand.
In 2010 and 2017, some specimens washed up on the North Islands, but scientists could only take minimal samples before the whales were buried.
However, this time, a team of scientists and members of local Māori tribes on the South Island were able to dissect a spade-toothed whale more thoroughly. The findings offered insight into how spade-toothed whales live, as well as how this particular one met its end.
The team discovered small vestigial teeth in the upper jaw of the whale. In other studies of beaked whales, vestigial teeth were determined to have receded as evolution favored suction feeding.
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They also found nine stomach chambers in the spade-toothed whale. Some of them contained squid beaks, some lenses from squid eyes, parasitic worms, and other parts of organisms that are unclear. The presence of squid parts confirmed that squid was an important aspect of the whale’s diet.
Research on the whale is ongoing—new measurements and a CT scan of its head will be taken, allowing more details to emerge.
“We also found interesting structures associated with both feeding and sound production. Weights and measurements and descriptions were made of various muscles and organs to help us describe this species and make comparisons with related species,” said Anton van Helden, a senior marine science advisor for New Zealand’s Department of Conservation.
“These all add to the body of knowledge we are building.”
For this specific individual whale, the researchers believe that a broken jaw and bruising around the head are signs that it died due to head trauma.
After dissection, the local tribes will keep the teeth and jaw of the spade-toothed whale, which are sacred to Māori culture. The rest of the skeleton will be housed in the Tūhura Otago Museum in Dunedin.
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