A breakthrough discovery off the coast of Baja California in June 2024 has stunned the scientific community. A rare species of beaked whale, the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale, was seen alive for the first time in history. After years of research and tracking, a team of scientists finally confirmed the existence of these elusive creatures. Their findings were published in Marine Mammal Science, shedding light on one of the ocean’s most mysterious species.
The Search for the Ginkgo-Toothed Beaked Whale: A Five-Year Journey
In the world of marine biology, some species remain tantalizingly out of reach, known only by fleeting sounds or the occasional carcass washed ashore. The ginkgo-toothed beaked whale, one of the ocean’s most mysterious mammals, was one such enigma. For five years, a team of researchers led by Elizabeth Henderson and supported by Oregon State University set out to locate this elusive creature.
Their journey began with the sounds of a mysterious whale call. Researchers initially thought it might belong to another species, but as they tracked the sound, they began to suspect that they were on the trail of something far rarer. Using advanced hydrophones and high-powered binoculars, the team ventured back to the coast of Baja California multiple times, hoping for a breakthrough. But it wasn’t until June 2024, aboard the Pacific Storm, that the team got their long-awaited answer.
“I can’t even describe the feeling because it was something that we had worked towards for so long,” said Henderson, recalling the moment when they finally confirmed the identity of the whales. “Everybody on the boat was cheering because we had it, we finally had it.”
This moment of triumph was the culmination of years of effort, with the team battling the challenges of tracking animals that are naturally shy and rarely seen. The ginkgo-toothed beaked whale had never been seen alive—until now. Their discovery is one step closer to understanding these deeply elusive creatures and could have significant implications for their conservation.
(a) A close-up of the adult male ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (#2a). It has a relatively short, white-tipped beak; the tiny, erupted tooth tip (orange spot; arrow) is worn at the tip and surrounded by white scar tissue. The mouthline curves up to a peak, with the tooth at the apex, then angles back and down toward the eye in a relatively straight line. Behind the tooth, on the melon and on lower jaw, are pale gray “bruise” marks (see text), possibly due to forceful contact with other males. (b) This species has a distinctive white pattern on the mandible: The white on the chin sweeps back and up toward the apex in the mandible. Photos by C. Hayslip.
Confirming the Species: A Landmark Discovery Published in Marine Mammal Science
The discovery of the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale has not only expanded our knowledge of marine life but also opened up new avenues for cetacean research. As the team aboard the Pacific Storm collected the small skin sample that would confirm the species, they were not only marking a scientific milestone but also addressing a pressing issue in marine mammalogy.
The whales’ calls, identified as distinctively coming from BW43, had been heard previously, but they were only recently linked to the ginkgo-toothed species after extensive acoustic analysis. This breakthrough is part of a larger ongoing effort to match whale calls with specific species, a crucial task in studying creatures that are seldom observed.
Published in Marine Mammal Science, the paper detailing the discovery serves as a landmark in cetacean research. It reveals that the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale, previously only identified by strandings or acoustic data, is far more common in the waters off California and Baja California than researchers had thought.
“There were two strandings on the west coast of North America previously, but they had always been assumed to have been anomalous – animals that washed ashore, or were sick,” Henderson explained. “But now we know that that’s not true and that they actually occupy these waters year-round.”
This new understanding of their distribution will help shape future conservation efforts, particularly in protecting these whales from the impacts of human activities, such as sonar use by military vessels.
Beaked Whales: The Least-Known Giants of the Ocean
Beaked whales are among the least-known and least-studied of all cetacean species, despite their fascinating biology and unique behaviors. The ginkgo-toothed beaked whale is part of this mysterious group, which also includes species like Blainville’s beaked whale. These animals are the deepest-diving mammals on Earth, capable of reaching depths of over 9,000 feet in search of food.
Unlike other whale species, which are frequently seen near coastlines or during migrations, beaked whales live most of their lives in the deep ocean, where they dive for long periods and surface infrequently. Their behavior makes them incredibly difficult to track, and much of what we know about them comes from strandings, which are often the result of injury or illness.
“The Society for Marine Mammalogy has a list of 94 accepted species of cetaceans,” said Robert Pitman, a veteran researcher at Oregon State University. “A quarter of those are beaked whales, but most people have never even heard of them. These are the largest, least-known animals left on the planet.”
Pitman’s words highlight the fact that these creatures are among the most elusive and least understood of all marine mammals.
The Challenge of Studying Shy, Deep-Diving Mammals
Studying deep-diving whales presents unique challenges. These creatures spend the majority of their lives far below the ocean’s surface, out of sight and often out of range of conventional research methods. While scientists have developed specialized tools like hydrophones to detect underwater sounds, these methods only tell part of the story.
The Pacific Storm research vessel was equipped with an array of hydrophones capable of picking up the subtle calls of different whale species, allowing the team to identify the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale’s distinctive acoustic signature. But even with such advanced technology, tracking these animals is far from easy. Beaked whales are incredibly shy, and even a minor disturbance from a boat can send them fleeing into the depths.
This elusive nature is one of the reasons why so little is known about the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale and its kin. Most of what researchers know about them comes from acoustics and rare strandings. The breakthrough discovery off Baja California offers new hope for further understanding these enigmatic creatures and tracking their populations without disturbing their delicate habitats.