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Creature that washed up on New Zealand beach may be rarest whale

Spade-toothed whales are the world's rarest, with no live sightings ever recorded. Until, perhaps, now. One may have washed up onto a New Zealand beach.

In this photo provided by the Department of Conservation, rangers Jim Fyfe and Tūmai Cassidy walk alongside what's believed to be a rare spade-toothed whale, on July 5, 2024, after its was found washed ashore on a beach near Otago, New Zealand. Only six other spade-toothed whales have ever been pinpointed, and those found intact on New Zealand's North Island beaches had been buried before DNA testing could verify their identification, Hendriks said, thwarting any chance to study them. It took "many years and a mammoth amount of effort by researchers and local people" to identify the "incredibly cryptic" mammals, Kirsten Young, a senior lecturer at the University of Exeter who has studied spade-toothed whales, said in emailed remarks.

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