Rare new species of beaked whale identified [View all]
Source: Economic Times
Rare new species of beaked whale identified
By PTI | Jul 27, 2016, 06.17 PM IST
WASHINGTON: Scientists have identified a rare new species of beaked whales with a size of up to seven metres that ranges from northern Japan across the Pacific Ocean to Alaska's Aleutian Islands.
Japanese whalers call the enigmatic black whales "karasu," the Japanese word for raven. The new species is darker in colour and about two-thirds the size of the more common Baird's beaked whale, but so scarce that even whalers rarely see them, researchers said.
A DNA analysis of 178 beaked whales from around the Pacific Rim found eight known samples of the new species.
"The challenge in documenting the species was simply locating enough specimens to provide convincing evidence," said Phillip Morin from US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Fisheries' Southest Fisheries Science Centre.
Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/environment/flora-fauna/rare-new-species-of-beaked-whale-identified/articleshow/53417606.cms
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