Researchers find new species of whale off coast of Mexico
December 10, 2020
Marine researchers searching for a rare type of whale off the coast of Mexico have instead discovered a new species. The crew were able to record the never before seen animal in its natural habitat.
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Researchers who were looking for a rare whale instead came across what they believe to be a new species of beaked whale, the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) reported on Wednesday.
The researchers didn't realize at first what they had found when they encountered a group of whales on November 17, just off the remote Mexican San Benito islands.
The scientific team had been sailing with the Sea Shepherd Conservation society in pursuit of the Perrin's beaked whale — so elusive that they have only been observed when dead specimens show up on beaches.
What happens to beached whales?
Every year thousands of whales are found stranded on beaches all over the world. But how do they get there? And what happens once they hit the shore?
Image: picture-alliance/Pacific Press/A. H. Firsawan
A team effort
Earlier this month, locals in Aceh, Indonesia, teamed up to try and help 10 sperm whales that beached themselves in shallow waters. Volunteers managed to pull six of the animals back out to sea, but four died. There is no real consensus on why whales become stranded, but there are plenty of ideas...
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Yani
Follow the leader
Some whale species live in social groups known as 'pods', each of which has a leader the other animals swim behind. If the lead animal finds itself close to the shore and in trouble, it can send out a distress signal. The whales following behind may try to help and end up stranded themselves. There is also the possibility that whales become caught while chasing prey.
Image: picture-alliance/Zumapress/R. Azhari
Manmade strandings
Another school of thought on why whales become beached suggests that overfishing forces the marine mammals to seek food in unfamiliar and potentially shallow waters where they become trapped. There is also some evidence that naval sonar can disrupt and confuse the animals while migrating.
Image: picture-alliance/Zumapress/R. Azhari
Evading the deep
If a whale perishes deep in the murky depths of the sea, its body sinks to the bottom providing nourishment for a plethora of other animals and organisms for years, even decades to come. But those already close to the shore, may wash up on the beach, like this whale that appeared in Rio de Janeiro. If this happens, the animals decompose on the sand - a phenomenon that can cause other problems.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/F. Teixeira
An explosive response
Though these sunbathers appear undeterred, the stench of a putrifying whale carcass would be enough to put many off their holiday. And the smell is not the only issue. When one of these ocean giants dies and begins to decompose, gases build up in its stomach where they are trapped by a thick layer of blubber. If humans climb on, or try to move the dead whale, it can explode.
Image: Getty Images/M. Tama
A sandy grave
Disposing of a whale that has washed ashore can be a difficult task. Because they can pose a risk to public health, leaving them to rot on the beach is not an option. The best way, say some environmentalists, is to bury them on the beach itself, as was the case with the four whales that died in Aceh.
Image: picture-alliance/Pacific Press/A. H. Firsawan
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What they discovered was a type of beaked whale, a species smaller than other whales at up to five meters long and with pointy, dolphin-like snouts.
After the encounter, the scientists noticed that the animals in the images they had captured had slightly different teeth placement and their underwater recordings were quite unique.
Dr. Jay Barlow, a senior fisheries scientist at the NOAA, was confident that they were not Perrin's beaked whales but a new species.
"We saw something new. Something that was not expected in this area, something that doesn't match, either visually or acoustically, anything that is known to exist," he said.
'The joy of science'
"The fact that they were looking for a very rare whale, and that they happen to find something completely different, is remarkable and wonderful, and just the joy of doing science," marine biologist Andrew Read said.
The team took samples from the water in the area where the whales had been spotted hoping to get an "environmental DNA sample from their sloughed skin cells." Such a sample would open up opportunities to analyze their find in the lab.
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While DNA testing is necessary for a conclusive answer, Read said that the team's findings were in line with the discovery of a new species.
If confirmed, the new species would bring the total number of known beaker whales to 24.
"It is a huge animal, the weight of a Clydesdale horse. Imagine something that big in the terrestrial realm going undiscovered. But there's a lot of mysteries in the sea," Barlow said.
Researchers are already planning a new trip next year, although now with the aim of finding both the new species as well as the elusive Perrin's beaked whale.