Wellington: The world's rarest whale species - the spade-toothed beaked whale has been spotted for the first time by scientists of New Zealand in the Pacific Ocean. "This is the first time a spade-toothed beaked whale has been seen as a complete specimen, and we were lucky enough to find two of them," says Rochelle Constantine, from the University of Auckland, who led the study. "It's incredible to think that, until recently, such a large animal was concealed in the South Pacific Ocean and shows how little we know about ocean bio-diversity," adds Constantine, the journal Current Biology reports.
The scientists used DNA evidence to prove that a mother and her male calf which stranded in New Zealand in late 2010 were the first animals of their kind ever seen, according to an Auckland statement. Since the two animals are the only intact members of their species sighted, the spade-toothed beaked whale is the world's rarest whale. Until now the only evidence for the species' existence came from three skull and jaw fragments found around New Zealand and Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile.
The spade-toothed beaked whale was discovered on Pitt Island in the Chatham Islands in 1872, but it wasn't until 2002 that scientists from The University of Auckland analysed DNA from the three skull fragments, recovered from museum archives, and realised that their genetic profiles were the same and did not correspond to any other known species. On Dec 31, 2010, a female whale (5.3 metres) and
10:19 AM, Nov 06, 2012
New Delhi: A white sperm whale looms on the background of the Google doodle for October 18 that commemorates the 161st anniversary of the publication of Herman Melville's landmark novel Moby-Dick. Google's Moby-Dick doodle depicts a scene from the novel and shows Captain Ahab commandeering a whaling boat with a harpoon in his hands ready to strike at the enigmatic white sperm whale. Moby-Dick is swimming and spouting in the...
05:11 PM, Oct 17, 2012
Karachi: In what is believed to be one of the biggest catch in the high seas, Pakistani fishermen have caught a giant whale shark - about 36 foot long and weighing over 7,000 kg. The fishermen brought the giant fish to the Karachi Fish Harbour and claimed to have found it dead in the open sea. Some experts believe that the shark might have been killed after it got entangled...
08:41 PM, Feb 08, 2012
London: From whale sperm to colon cleansers to the shape of a woman's foot when she has an orgasm, celebrities did not disappoint during 2011 with their penchant for peddling suspect science in the world's media. In its annual list of what it considers the year's worst abuses against science, the Sense About Science campaign named U.S. reality TV star Nicole Polizzi, Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann and American singer-songwriter...
12:28 PM, Dec 29, 2011
New Delhi: Inhabitants of Faroe Islands catch and slaughter pilot whales (Globicephala melaena) during the traditional 'Grindadrap' (whale hunting in Faroese) near the capital Torshavn, November 22, 2011. Residents of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous province of Denmark, slaughter and eat pilot whales every year. The Faroese are descendents of Vikings, and pilot whales have been a central part of their diet for more than 1,000 years. They crowd the...
07:45 PM, Nov 24, 2011
Whales are making news in South Africa after a sailing couple met with a freak accident. ...
12:11 PM, Jul 22, 2010
A brazen clash occurred at sea between the two groups. ...
10:45 AM, Jan 07, 2010
The pilot whales came ashore north of Coromandel township. ...
03:10 PM, Dec 28, 2009
The survivors had been loaded onto trucks and released into water. ...
04:14 PM, Mar 25, 2009
Melbourne: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, dropped from the one-day team last month, was included in the 16-man Test squad for the three-Test tour of West Indies on Wednesday. Ponting, who retired from limited-overs cricket after being dropped, has been retained after a prolific recent series against India. The 37-year-old batsman's successor Michael Clarke is expected to have recovered from a left hamstring strain, which sidelined him for the deciding...
01:27 AM, May 03, 2008
Johannesburg: The present South African coaching unit led by former India coach Gary Kirsten is the best the South African national team has ever had, according to former captain and cricket administrator Dr Ali Bacher. Bacher told the Beeld newspaper that the 'Pyrites' current coaching trio of Gary Kirsten (coach), Russel Domingo (assistant coach) and Allan Donald (bowling coach) are the best combination of coaches the country has had since ...
01:41 AM, Mar 21, 2008
Chennai: Pune Warriors batsman Robin Uthappa blamed his team's 25-run defeat against Chennai Super Kings on the early loss of wickets and some superb fielding by the rival side. CSK fielded out of their skin and credit must be given to them. When we batted, we lost two wickets — Pandey and myself in quick succession. That pushed us back pretty badly. We needed to build a partnership, rued the...
11:51 PM, Jan 18, 2008
A sailor whose yacht was destroyed by a whale said he had got a good "vibe" from the giant mammal. ...
06:21 PM, Jan 10, 2007
Humpback whales have a type of brain cell only humans have and are more intelligent than thought of, say researchers. ...
10:58 AM, Nov 28, 2006
