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Elusive ‘Tusked Whale’ Filmed Alive for the First Time, Rewriting Marine Biology
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A groundbreaking study published July 28 in Marine Mammal Science details the first-ever confirmed sightings and photographic evidence of live ginkgo-toothed beaked whales (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) – a species previously known only from deceased individuals and accidental bycatch.This remarkable achievement, the result of a five-year research effort off the coast of Mexico, offers a rare glimpse into the life of one of the planet’s most mysterious and least-understood mammals.
The Largest Unknowns
Beaked whales, renowned for their deep-diving habits and elusive nature, represent a significant gap in our understanding of marine life. “Beaked whales are the largest least-known animals left on the planet,” explained a study co-author, affiliated with the Marine mammal Institute at Oregon State University. “They spend very little time at the surface, and they’re masters at avoiding boats, so they’re incredibly tough to study.”
The research team documented a group of approximately 20-30 whales over several days,capturing valuable footage and photographs. The group included a mature male exhibiting visible battle scars and a female accompanied by a calf.
Identifying the whales proved challenging, as differentiating between beaked whale species can be difficult through visual observation alone. To confirm their findings, researchers employed a minimally invasive technique: collecting a DNA sample using a specialized crossbow.”The crossbow arrow (‘bolt’) extracts a tiny, pencil-eraser-sized plug of skin and blubber,” one researcher explained, adding that the procedure is far less impactful than a cookiecutter shark bite – a common source of scarring observed on the whales.
The Mystery of the Ginkgo Teeth
The ginkgo-toothed beaked whale derives its name from the distinctive teeth of the males, which bear a striking resemblance to the fan-shaped leaves of the ginkgo tree. These teeth, largely concealed within the jaw and gum tissue, develop into small tusks as the whales mature. Unlike teeth used for feeding, these tusks serve as weapons. “They feed on small squids and fishes by suction feeding, so they don’t need teeth,” a researcher noted. “As an inevitable result, females are toothless their entire lives, but males retain a single pair of enlarged teeth in the lower jaw that they use as tusks to fight over access to reproductive females.”
Observations revealed that the adult male encountered by the team bore the marks of past conflicts – a worn tusk, bruising, and various scars.Other whales in the group also displayed scars, including distinctive white patches caused by bites from cookiecutter sharks, small predatory fish known for removing circular plugs of flesh from larger animals.
A Shift in Understanding Distribution
The finding is notably significant as ginkgo-toothed beaked whale strandings are typically concentrated in the western Pacific. Only two previous strandings have been recorded in the eastern Pacific, leading researchers to initially suspect they were observing Perrin’s beaked whales – a species known from a mere six stranded specimens and considered one of the least known marine mammals globally. The genetic analysis, however, confirmed the presence of Mesoplodon ginkgodens in an unexpected location. “When we got the results back we were all a bit shocked – while they did look like that species, this was not the expected
