You really Need to See the Beaked Whale Found in South Australia

The beaked whale found in South Australia

A rare beaked whale with two extra teeth found on a beach in South Australia is baffling scientists across the globe. The young female whale was found on Waitpinga Beach in Victor Harbour. Initially, researchers thought the presence of two additional teeth could mean it represented a new species. 

The whale, which had died by the time scientists arrived to examine it, had two small pointed teeth protruding above the jawline – a feature not normally seen in female beaked whales. Catherine Kemper, a senior research scientist with the South Australian Museum, was part of the team that went to examine the carcass.

"As we were doing the dissection, after we'd done our measurements and photos, we started to look at the jaws because that's one of the distinctive parts of a beaked whale. They were very odd. I didn't know what it was, because these teeth were something I had never seen before. My mind was thinking, 'do we have something new here?'."

The teeth of the beaked whaleSouth Australia Museum

After removing the small unusual teeth, researchers found a larger tooth underneath – belonging to a Hector's beaked whale. Collections manager David Stemmer said: "It was still exciting, and although we now knew we had a species we know, it's a species we don't get very often and it's only the third specimen we have collected here in South Australia."