(JP)Beached whale one of world's rarest

[Guest guest]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2606829.stm

 

Thursday, 26 December, 2002, 14:02 GMT

Beached whale one of world's rarest

 

A whale that beached itself in Japan this summer has

turned out to be the most complete specimen ever seen

of a rare species, scientists have said.

 

The creature, which died soon after coming ashore in

July, has been identified as a Longman's beaked whale.

 

 

" It was amazing that we found such a rare whale, "

Nobutaka Kubo, a marine researcher at Kagoshima City

Aquarium, told the Associated Press news agency.

 

Japanese scientists realised soon after the animal was

buried that it was unlike other whales known in

Japanese waters and dug it up on 3 August to perform

tests.

 

First complete example

 

They announced on Wednesday that the 6.5-metre

(21-foot) female was the first whole adult specimen

ever found.

 

" We did some follow-up on the whale because we buried

it without knowing exactly what it was, " Dr Kubo said.

 

 

Scientists examined the whale's skeleton, stomach

contents and DNA.

 

They ruled out the possibility that it was one of

seven related species based on the shape of it s body,

head and teeth, concluding that it must be a

Longman's.

 

That species - Indopacetus pacificus - is known from

two skull samples, one found in 1882 and the other in

1968, and from other fragmentary remains found in

South Africa, the Maldives and Kenya.

 

In 1926, HA Longman described the original find as a

new species.

 

South African specimen

 

The Japanese report mentions a whale found beached in

South Africa in the summer of 2002, which they say is

probably not a Longman's.

 

" As far as we could see from the images provided the

[south African specimen] is very similar to Cuvier's

beaked whale. It is very unlikely that it was a

Longman's beaked whale, " the report said.

 

When the South African specimen was found in August,

whale expert Vic Cockcroft said the discovery of a

Longman's beaked whale was extremely important.

 

" It's amazingly valuable, simply because we know

absolutely nothing about the animals because they have

only been seen two or three times alive, " he said.

 

" We don't know the maximum size, we don't know where

they feed or what they feed on. I mean we know

absolutely nothing about them, where they occur even, "

Dr Cockcroft said.

 

Diet of squid

 

As its name implies, it has a long, beak-like mouth,

and is believed to normally inhabit waters far from

shore.

 

From the shape of their teeth, scientists believe the

whales feed on squid.

 

Experts do not know if they are endangered or merely

seen rarely because they live far from humans in the

Indian and Pacific Oceans.

 

The skeleton of the Japanese specimen will be

displayed at the Kagoshima City Aquarium.

 

 

 

 

Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.

http://mailplus.