A huge specimen of a spatula-toothed whale, also known as Travers’s whale (Mesoplodon traversii), has been found beached on a stretch of coast in New Zealand, near Taieri Mouth. A sensational discovery for scientists, who still know very little about this mysterious creature, whose existence has only been confirmed by a few remains found in the last 200 years, but which no one has ever seen alive.
The very rare whale beached in New Zealand
The remains of the five-meter-long whale were found on July 4 near the mouth of a river in the Otago region of the south-east of the South Island. Scientists are waiting for DNA analysis to confirm its “identity”: if it is indeed a Travers’ whale, it would be the seventh specimen of this species ever found. Of the previous six, all but one have washed up on the coast of New Zealand or its offshore islands. It is not clear where it lives, what it eats or what its habits are, much less how many specimens exist.
“A species about which practically nothing is known”
Marine mammal experts from New Zealand’s Ministry of Conservation and Te Papa National Museum have identified the whale as a male, as Gabe Davies, the Department of Conservation’s Otago Coast operations manager, told New Zealand media: “These whales are one of the most misunderstood large mammal species of modern times. Since the 1800s, only six have been documented anywhere in the world, and only one was from outside New Zealand.” As the Department of Conservation noted in a statement, the discovery was fairly recent and will allow scientists to dissect the animal and carry out several analyses: the whale’s body is in cold storage and samples of its DNA have been sent to the University of Auckland for analysis and confirmation of the identification, which could take months or weeks. “A species so rare that virtually nothing is known about it,” experts said. “The rarity of this whale means that conversations about what to do will take longer, as this is a conversation of international importance.”
The first findings in 1874
Travers’s mesoplodon was first described in 1874 by John Edward Gray, after the discovery of a lower jaw and two teeth from the Chatham Islands, off the east coast of New Zealand. This specimen, along with the remains of two other specimens found in New Zealand and Chile, allowed scientists to confirm the existence of this species. However, due to the rarity of the specimens discovered and the lack of observations of living specimens, too little is still known about these mysterious giants of the sea.