CHRISTCHURCH: The body of a killer whale – a species so rare it has never been seen alive – has apparently washed up on a beach in New Zealand, according to scientists.
The remains of the unidentified, five-metre-long, beaked creature were found on July 4 near the mouth of a river in South Otago province, government researchers said.
Marine mammal experts from the New Zealand Department of Conservation and Te Papa National Museum identified it as a male killer whale.
A DNA investigation has been launched to confirm its classification, the researchers said.
“Minor whales are one of the least known large mammal species of modern times,” said Coastal Otago Conservation Department operations manager Gabe Davies.
“Since the 1800s, only six specimens have been documented worldwide, and all but one came from New Zealand,” Davies said in a statement on Monday.
“It’s huge from a scientific and conservation point of view.”
The find was fresh enough to offer the first opportunity to dissect a killer whale, the conservation department said.
The species is “so rare that nothing is known about it,” it said.
The whale’s body was placed in cold storage and the genetic samples were sent to the University of Auckland as curators of the New Zealand Cetacean Archives.
It may take several weeks or months to process the DNA and confirm the final identification.
“The rarity of the whale means that conversations about what to do next will take more time because this is a conversation of international importance,” the conservation department said.
The species was first described in 1874 from only a lower jaw and two teeth obtained from the Chatham Islands off the east coast of New Zealand.
This specimen, along with the skeletal remains of two other specimens found in New Zealand and Chile, allowed scientists to confirm the new species.
Marine scientist Vanessa Pirotta said researchers will study the whale’s stomach contents, genetics and how this sample compares to previous ones.
This could shed light on the behavior of the whales, their population and why they are so rare, Pirotta told AFP, describing the discovery as “like winning the jackpot”.
Because so few specimens have been found and there have been no live sightings, little is known about the spade whale and it is classified as “data deficient” under the New Zealand threat classification system.
The first intact specimen came from a mother and calf stranded in the Bay of Plenty in 2010, New Zealand’s Department of Conservation said. Another stranding in 2017 in Gisborne added another specimen to the collection.
