WELLINGTON, DEC 2 – Scientists in New Zealand today began an autopsy on the world’s rarest species of whale, the whale spade-toothedof which only seven specimens have ever been recorded in history.
The whale, which washed up dead on New Zealand’s South Island earlier this year, offers a unique opportunity to study a deep-sea mammal that has never been seen alive.
At five meters long, the whale was lifted off the beach last July and kept in a special freezer since then.
Whale expert Anton van Helden said it was the first time scientists had the opportunity to perform an autopsy on a complete whale specimen spade-toothedwhich belongs to the beaked whale family.
“This is an extraordinary and important opportunity at the global level,” he said.
The autopsy, which is expected to take a week, is expected to provide important information about the whale’s behavior, diet and basic anatomy.
“Beaked whales are the most elusive group of large mammals in the world,” added Van Helden.
“They are deep-sea divers that are rarely seen in open waters, making the study of them a huge challenge.
“This specimen is the rarest of the rare, only the seventh specimen known worldwide and the first time we have had the opportunity to conduct a study like this,” he explained.
The New Zealand Department of Conservation confirmed the whale spade-toothed as ‘the world’s rarest whale’.
The species was first identified in 1874 based on a lower jaw and two teeth found in the Chatham Islands, off the east coast of New Zealand.
The initial discovery, along with the skeletal remains of two other specimens found in New Zealand and Chile, allowed scientists to confirm the existence of the new species.
Due to the very small number of specimens found and the absence of finds of the whale alive, the species spade-toothed classified as deficient data under the New Zealand Threat Classification System. – AFP