A 16-foot (4.9-meter) carcass of a rarely seen type of beaked whale was found by a passerby at Jug Handle State Natural Reserve in Mendocino County, California. According to Live Science, the marine mammal has mysterious wounds on its face and scrapes all over its body with no known cause yet.
Experts are also not sure which species this pointy-nosed cetacean belongs to as the sighting of this species is unusual, and they mostly live in the ocean's deep waters. Moe Flannery from the Cal Academy of Sciences said that the stranding event has made it really important.
Identifying the Beaked Whale Species Washed Ashore in California
A team from the Noyo Center for Marine Science and researchers at the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) recovered the mysterious dead beaked whale found in California on May 15. They also collected samples of the whale's blubber, organs, skull, and sent them to the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank for analysis.
However, little is known about what species is the beaked whale, which belongs to the family Ziphiidae. In the whole world, only about two dozen beaked whale species have been identified, including Baird's beaked whale (Berardius bairdii) and Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris).
Noyo Center wrote in a Facebook post that these whales could dive deeper than any other marine mammal and stay underwater for more than three hours. But even with this impressive diving ability, scientists still know very little about beaked whales as they are rarely seen.
Experts speculate that the recently washed-up beaked whale was most likely a Hubbs' beaked whale (Mesoplodon carlhubbsi) or a Stejneger's beaked whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri).
However, marine biologist Sascha Hooker from the University of St. Andrews told Live Science in an email that it could also be a ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) or a pygmy beaked whale (Mesoplodon peruvianus). Sequencing the beaked whale's DNA will help scientists identify the exact species.
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Beaked Whale's Mysterious Injuries
Trey Petrey, the interpretive facilities manager at the Noyo Center, told SFGate that they found some unusual, nasty-looking injuries around the face and body of the beaked whale. Even from looking at the skull more closely, they had a hard time pinpointing what caused them.
One of the possible scenarios they proposed was that the whale must have been hit by a vessel. Dolphins and whales are the top marine animals who are at most risk of being hit by a boat because their noise pollution adversely affects their navigation system, according to a 2020 study.
The dead beaked whale was marred by scratches covering its face and body that were likely caused by other beaked whales. Hooker said that most beaked whales are toothless except for a pair of tusk-like teeth in their lower jaws that are mostly exclusive to males. Although this is not yet confirmed, the scratches must have come from previous duels.
Since the whale's body seemed to be in a poor condition, experts also believe that it could have been struggling to find food or had ingested plastic which has become a big problem for them. Hopefully, analysis of their stomach will help determine if plastics have played a role in their death.
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