Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have for the first time released video of a small, elusive marine mammal known as the Omura’s whale (Balaenoptera omurai), giving the world its first look at one of the least known creatures on Earth.
These whales have long been misidentified as Bryde’s whales, since both are small tropical baleen whales with similar dorsal fins. But Omura’s whales are slightly smaller and have unique markings, Salvatore Cerchio, guest investigator at WHOI and a researcher at the New England Aquarium, and his colleagues explained. They also has a lower jaw that is dark on the left side and white on the right.
DNA obtained from previous whaling expeditions and from stranded specimens in the western Pacific were analyzed in 2003, confirming that the Omura’s were a separate species and distinct from the Bryde’s. However, there had never been a confirmed sighting of it in the wild—that is, until Cerchio’s team found and filmed the creatures near Madagascar.
The newly released video follows a paper published last month by Royal Society Open Science in which the WHOI scientists describe the creatures’ foraging and vocal behavior, according to UPI and the Washington Post. The study, which was based on encounters with 44 groups of Omura’s whales, also revealed that the mammals prefer living in shallow, coastal waters.
Little is known about this mysterious marine mammal
According to Cerchio, the Omura’s are difficult to find due to their smaller size (they vary in size from approximately 33 feet to 38 feet), their tendency to appear in remote regions, and do not prominently exhale through their blowholes. Scientists know so little about the creature that they do not even know how many there are, or how rare they are.
“What little we knew about these whales previously came primarily from eight specimens of Omura’s whales taken in Japanese scientific whaling off the Solomon and Keeling Islands and a couple strandings of dead animals in Japan,” he explained. “This is the first definitive evidence and detailed descriptions of Omura’s whales in the wild and part of what makes this work particularly exciting.”
Over the course of a two-year span in 2013, Cerchio and his colleagues were able to collect skin biopsies from 18 adult whales, which there then analyzed to confirm the species of the mammals. They also observed four mothers with young calves, and recorded song-like vocalizations which may be related to reproductive behaviors.
The team plans to return to the site this month to conduct further research on the creatures, their behaviors, and their population characteristics, Cerchio said. He also hopes that they will be able to expand their research area during future studies of Omura’s whale, with the hopes they may be able to analyze the creatures in other parts of its range.
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Feature Image: Screenshot from Washington Post video
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