On a June morning in 2024, off the coast of Baja California in Mexico, scientists aboard the research vessel Pacific Storm were finishing their coffee and getting ready for another day of searching for some of the planet’s most elusive creatures. Suddenly, a call came from the bridge: “Whales! Starboard side!”
For hours, what appeared to be a pair of juvenile beaked whales surfaced and vanished repeatedly. Finally, Robert Pitman, a now-retired Oregon State University researcher, fired a small arrow from a modified crossbow, striking one of the whales on its back.
The arrowhead collected a tiny piece of skin, no bigger than a pencil eraser. This small sample would later confirm that the scientists had encountered a species never before seen in the wild: the gingko-toothed beaked whale.
“I can’t even describe the feeling because it was something we had worked toward for so long,” said Elizabeth Henderson, a researcher at the U.S. Navy’s Naval Information Warfare Center and lead author of the resulting paper published in Marine Mammal Science. “Everybody on the boat was cheering—we finally had it.”
The Pacific Storm was equipped with an array of hydrophones to listen for the unique calls of different whale pods, aiding in the search.
This discovery was five years in the making. Since 2020, Henderson and her colleagues from Mexico and the U.S. had been tracking a group of whales emitting a distinct call, labeled BW43. Initially, they believed it was Perrin’s beaked whale, another species never observed alive.
The team returned to the same location for three years, first on a sailboat and later on a chartered Mexican fishing vessel, without success. In 2024, they partnered with Oregon State University and set out on its research ship, which proved crucial. The vessel towed hydrophones to detect underwater sounds and featured an observation deck with high-powered binoculars capable of spotting whales hundreds of meters away.
Such advanced tools are essential for locating beaked whales. Of the 24 known species, very little is understood about most of them.
Scientists believe gingko-toothed beaked whales inhabit the waters off California and northern Baja California in Mexico.
These whales are the deepest-diving mammals on Earth, spending most of their lives in the ocean depths. They surface only briefly for air, usually far from shore, and are notoriously shy, easily frightened by approaching boats. Many species have been identified only from dead specimens washed ashore, and new species are still being discovered, with the most recent in 2021.
“The Society for Marine Mammalogy lists 94 accepted cetacean species,” Pitman noted. “A quarter of those are beaked whales, yet most people have never heard of them. They are the largest, least-known animals left on the planet.”
Understanding these whales is vital. They are highly sensitive to military sonar, which disrupts their feeding and can cause them to ascend too quickly, leading to fatal injuries similar to decompression sickness in divers. Identifying their habitats can help reduce the risk by avoiding military exercises in those areas.
The discovery in June almost didn’t happen. Before the crew could retrieve the arrow from the water, an albatross swooped down and began pecking at the precious skin sample. In a panic, the scientists rushed to intervene.The crew began shouting, some even throwing their breakfast bread rolls to distract or scare off the opportunistic thief. “Looking back, it’s quite amusing, but at the time it was very stressful,” Henderson recalls.
Meanwhile, humpback whales in New York face their own dangers, with hundreds navigating busy ship traffic and risking collisions.
In another discovery, researchers were surprised to find ginkgo-toothed beaked whales near Mexico. Previously, stranding records had mostly placed them on the opposite side of the Pacific, along Japan’s shores. By analyzing acoustic databases for BW43—the confirmed call of these whales—the team concluded that they likely inhabit the waters off California and northern Baja California.
“While there were two earlier strandings on North America’s west coast, they were thought to be anomalies—sick or lost individuals,” Henderson explains. “Now we know that’s not the case, and these whales actually live in these waters throughout the year.”
Another species, the dense-beaked or Blainville’s beaked whale, is also being studied. Researchers are using acoustic data to map the distribution of these deep-diving whales, as many calls remain unmatched to species, and some whales have never been seen at sea or have no known calls. This matching process is crucial for tracking these elusive animals.
Pitman, who aims to see all 94 whale species and has already spotted 90, has pursued many hard-to-find whales. He now believes Perrin’s beaked whale may be the most challenging, with only six strandings recorded—all in California and all severely decomposed.
“I suspect those were just stray individuals. The main population is elsewhere, and we’re still unsure where to search,” he says.
The search for the notoriously shy gingko-toothed beaked whale, which is easily frightened when approached, spanned five years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about the rare whales written in a natural conversational tone with clear and direct answers
General Beginner Questions
Q What kind of whales are these
A They are Perrins beaked whales They are so rare that for decades scientists only knew they existed from dead bodies that washed ashore
Q Where and when were they first seen alive
A A research team spotted and filmed two of them swimming off the coast of Mexicos San Benito Islands in November 2020
Q Why is this such a big deal
A Its a huge deal because these were the first confirmed live sightings of this species in history Before this we didnt even know what a living Perrins beaked whale looked like
Q How did scientists know they were looking at a new species
A They analyzed photos video recordings and even underwater acoustic recordings of the whales calls They also took water samples to test for environmental DNA which confirmed the whales unique genetic identity
Q What do they look like
A From the footage they appear as mediumsized beaked whales with a distinctive dorsal fin and a long slender beak They were a grayish color
Advanced InDepth Questions
Q What family of whales do they belong to
A They belong to the Ziphiidae family commonly known as beaked whales This family is known for deepdiving and elusive behavior making them very hard to study
Q Why are Perrins beaked whales so rarely seen
A They likely spend very little time at the surface inhabit deep ocean waters far from shore and probably live in small widely scattered groups Their elusive nature makes them the ghosts of the ocean
Q What threats do they face
A Like other marine life they are likely threatened by ocean noise pollution entanglement in fishing gear plastic pollution and the impacts of climate change
Q How does this discovery help with their conservation
A Now that we know what they look and sound like scientists can actively search for them Understanding their habitat population size and behavior is the critical first step to protecting them
