Rare Beaked Whale Filmed for the First Time

Thursday, February 23, 2012 was an important day for cetacean studies! One of the rarest of all sea creatures, a shepherd’s beaked whale, was recorded on video for the first time ever. The sighting was the fourth time this elusive whale had ever been seen at sea (AFP).

Source: AFP

The 20-to-25-foot cetaceans are so uncommon because they live in deep waters, with depths between 1,150 and 11,800 feet, and only surface very briefly to breathe.  (ABC News).

I know you’re probably rolling your eyes, thinking, “Who cares about some weird-looking whale?” And I totally get it, these aren’t exactly the most exciting sea creatures.

But think more about how few times these whales have been seen in the wild, and how little we know about them. It’s not exactly the whale sighting itself that intrigues me the most, but rather what this rare whale stands for—how little we actually know about the ocean and its inhabitants. Just think of where that whale in the picture has been… it spends every day in a dark, alien world of crushing depths that we can’t even set foot in without submersibles and complicated machinery. To me, this beaked whale is one of many reminders that we humans don’t always know as much as we think we do.

So while learning more about this whale is exciting, in a way I hope shepherd’s beaked whale always largely remains a mystery. When I see it, and think about how it’s only been spotted four times in the wild, I ask myself… “What creatures have we yet to see at all?” It’s one of many symbols of the animals that we have never seen before, all hidden within the vast depths of the ocean.