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First Ever Sighting of the World’s Rarest Whale!

Copyright Yasine Mrabet, from Wikipedia

One of the world’s rarest animals, the spade-toothed whale, has now been seen for the first time in recorded history.  A mother and calf beached and died in New Zealand earlier this week. Previously the only evidence that this species exists has been three bone pieces that have been found from the 1800s through the present. The bones were difficult to identify because although they were similar to other beaked whales, they did not fit any bone structures of known species. Originally many of the bones were tentatively identified as Gray’s beaked whale, which is within the same family as the spade-toothed whale. Now, using mitochondrial DNA sequencing to compare the spade-toothed whale bones to Gray’s beaked whales showed that the bones were from a separate, unknown species, then termed the spade-toothed whale.

 Whales of the beaked whale family (Ziphiidae) are amongst the most rarely seen whales and are one of the least known families. This is due to beaked whale’s ability to dive to extreme depths to find deep-sea fish and squid to eat. Beaked whales can dive over 800 meters deep and stay submerged for nearly an hour and a half. Many beaked whales are rarely seen and many species are difficult to differentiate without close examination. Therefore, it is very exciting for scientists to finally be able to look closely at a spade-toothed whale to be able to fully differentiate them from other species. It is really incredible that for the first time ever-recorded humans are laying eyes upon a new species of whale. This is the final evidence to prove the current existence of this whale species, and even though we know much about the ocean, it is obvious we still have so much to learn.

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Are Beluga Whales Mimicking Human Speech?

Delphinapterus_leucas_2 beluga whale by steven snodgrass
Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus Leucas) copyright Steven Snodgrass

Many animals have been taught to mimic human behaviors, particularly human speech patterns but no animal has been found to do so naturally, until now. A beluga whale at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in California has been found to make sounds at lower octaves than usual and in patterns atypical for whales. While a researcher diving with the beluga heard unusual sounds the research team decided to investigate. They traced the sounds to one nine-year old male named NOC and recorded his sounds. What the discovered was that NOC was making vocal noises in bursts of about three seconds with pauses that are close to human speech patterns but not whale communication. They also found that the frequencies of NOC’s noises were varied into “harmonics” that were similar to humans but very distinct from whales. As the researchers gave NOC rewards for the human-like sounds he was taught to make them on command so they could be better studied. It was found that NOC can change the pressure in his naval cavity quickly as well as adjusted a few other body parts involved in vocalization to create lower frequency sounds in order to produce these sounds that whales have not been heard to make ever before.

This is a really exciting discovery and is one step closer to us understanding whale communication, adaptability and intelligence!

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Help Save the Whales

Photograph of Beluga Whale
Photo courtesy of savebiogems.org

This post is courtsey of Amos Nachoum and the staff at biganimals.com

Pierce Brosnan has narrated a video to call attention to the plight of the last 284 beluga whales of Alaska’s Cook Inlet. According to Brosnan, the actor and ocean activist, and also NRDC, the Apache Alaska Corporation is about to launch a seismic airgun attack that could push the white whales over the brink, into extinction.

The explosive noise of airguns used to explore for oil and gas can deafen, injure and even kill whales.
-Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

According to NRDC, the oil exploration company is planning to launch an “acoustic onslaught in the beluga’s only home in the world” and apparently the Obama Administration has given Apache Alaska Oil the greenlight to go forward. The company, says Brosnan in the video, will use devices that create loud air blasts to explore for oil and gas – blasts that will occur every ten seconds, perhaps for months on end. At a distance, Brosnan says, the blasts can cause the whales to abandon their habitat and stop eating. At close range, they can cause deafness, even death.

“Don’t let the belugas go silent. Help protect them before time runs out.”
-Pierce Brosnan


Watch Pierce Brosnan’s video and then visit this NRDC website to tell the Obama Administration to stop the Apache Alaska Corporation from launching an airgun attack on belugas.  View the latest information from NRDC about this attack on belugas