World’s rarest whale found for the first time

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Cetaceans, New species, New Zealand, Oceans

The Spade-toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon traversii) is the world’s rarest whale, and has, until recently, been known only from findings of three skull fragments over the last 140 years.  However, research published in the scientific journal Current Biology reveals that two whales found beached in New Zealand in 2010 were members of this most elusive of cetaceans.

When the beached mother and calf were found two years ago, they were misidentified as the much more common Gray’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon grayi), but DNA analysis on the skeletons has now revealed that the unfortunate pair were the first individuals of M.traversii to have ever been seen, albeit after death.  The skeletons, along with photos taken of the beached whales in 2010, have enabled researchers to provide the first satisfactory description of this species.

Although beached dead cetaceans are always a sad find, it’s exciting to have real recent confirmation of the existence of this species, which some had suspected of being extinct. The immense South Pacific Ocean covers 14 per cent of the earth’s surface, and it is not so surprising that this whale, thought to live and feed in deep water, has not been encountered before.  We must hope that its mysterious populations remain robust in the face of all the pressures on marine biodiversity, and can only wonder at what other species remain unencountered beneath the waves.

Antarctic ocean protection plan fails

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CCAMLR, Oceans, Protected areas

An intergovernmental meeting held recently in Tasmania has failed to reach agreement on the establishment of new protected areas in the Antarctic Ocean.  The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is a body established by international convention to conserve Antarctic marine life.  Its 25 members were meeting to consider various proposals to establish marine protected areas around the icy continent, in which fishing and other activities would be limited.  There has previously only been one such area designated in the southern seas.

Unfortunately no agreement was reached in Tasmania, with China, Russia and the Ukraine the most stubborn nations, according to the Antarctic Ocean Alliance.  This disappointing empasse echoes a recent meeting to agree global conservation budgets which also showed the limitations of the diplomatic process in enabling meaningful action on biodiversity protection.

CCAMLR has announced a special meeting in Germany in July 2013 in order to make a final effort to break the deadlock.  That meeting will be a stiff test of the ability of international treaty agreements to hold out against the intense commercial pressures of a resource-hungry industrial system.