It’s a creature of the deep so rare that there’s never been a recorded live sighting, and since the 1800s only six samples have ever been documented.
Now, experts in New Zealand are scrambling to confirm whether a 5-meter (16-foot) carcass that recently washed ashore on the country’s South Island is the near-mythical spade-toothed whale.
If so, it’ll be the first opportunity for scientists to dissect one of the creatures, which could give them an unprecedented insight into the species.
“This whale species is extremely rare, so this opportunity may allow us to learn more about how and where the animal lived and what it ate,” said Hannah Hendriks, a technical advisor at the New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC).
“If we are able to learn more about these aspects, we get closer to understanding whether the species is threatened and what threats it might face.”
New Zealand’s conservation department announced Monday that it had received a report on July 4 of a whale carcass near Taiari Mouth, a small village on the South Island’s eastern coast.
After inspection and consultation with marine mammal experts, scientists believed the carcass was that of a male spade-toothed whale, though more tests were needed.
“From a scientific and conservation point of view, this is huge,” said Gabe Davies, DOC Coastal Otago Operations Manager.
He added that spade-toothed whales are “the most poorly known large mammalian species of modern times.”
“It’s bittersweet that it wasn’t alive, and we couldn’t study it in its alive state, but the next best is a fresh sample like this,” Davies told CNN affiliate RNZ in a separate interview.
The whale is currently in cold storage as experts decide the next best steps.
In the meantime, genetic samples have been sent to the New Zealand Cetacean Tissue Archive at the University of Auckland. It may take several weeks or months for the DNA to be processed and a final species ID to be confirmed, according to New Zealand’s conservation department.
“It can’t stay in that cold store forever and [if it did] it would be a missed opportunity. There’s many moving parts to this, such as things like funding of that science and research, location, we’re just taking it bit by bit,” Davies said.
The DOC said it was working closely with local Māori communities to ensure respectful treatment of the whale.
“It is important to ensure appropriate respect for this taoka [treasured possession] is shown through the shared journey of learning,” said Nadia Wesley-Smith the chair of Te Rūnanga ō Ōtakou.Whales hold a special place in hearts of many Pacific cultures that fanned out across our largest ocean over the centuries. Earlier this year, Pacific leaders pushed to make whales legal persons with inherent rights.
According to the DOC, the spade-toothed whale was first documented in 1874 from lower jaw and teeth samples collected on Pitt Island, around 500 miles off New Zealand’s west coast. Other skeletal finds later enabled scientists to confirm a brand-new species.
The first intact specimen came from a mother and calf stranding in Bay of Plenty on New Zealand’s North Island in 2010, but the carcasses weren’t suitable for dissection.
More recently, a stranding in 2017 in Gisborne also on New Zealand’s North Island added one more specimen to the collection.
If the carcass is confirmed as a spade-toothed whale and dissected, Hendriks from the DOC said scientists will be very interested in details of its its stomach and gastrointestinal tract.
“This can tell us about what the whale has been eating, but it is also significant because every beaked whale species has a unique stomach plan,” she said.
“We would also be looking out for any indications as to why the whale might have died such as ingestion of foreign material, high parasite loads, or signs of disease.”
