New Type Of Beaked Whales Possibly Discovered Off Mexico's Western Coast

It appears that a new kind of whale species have been found somewhere off Mexico’s western coast. A trio of researchers in collaboration with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society alleges they were able to detect a rare type of beaked whales that were first linked to an unidentified acoustic signal by the remote San Benito Islands.

The three researchers, Gustavo Hinojosa, Jay Barlow and Elizabeth Henderson, working in conjunction with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society were the ones who detected the unusual signal.

They suspect that this may have been likely linked to the Perrin’s beaked whale which is a rare species that reside in the deep, remote waters and are distinguishable through their teeth. They have never been seen before, USA Today reported.

But it appears that with the gathered photos, videos and acoustic signals, the team was able to confirm evidence backing claims of a new type of beaked whale. However, the only problem is that they did not confirm the possibility of a new whale until further inspecting photographic evidence taken of the whales, Reuters reported.

“These animals popped to the surface right next to the boat,” Jay Barlow, a marine mammal biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, said. “It was just a phenomenal encounter. It’s very rare to even see a beaked whale, and to find a friendly group of beaked whales, it’s even rarer.”

However, the acoustic signals point to the actual discovery of a new species of whales. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society claims that the acoustic sound they got was not any sound known to science.

“We saw something new,” Barlow said. “Something that was not expected in this area, something that doesn’t match, either visually or acoustically, anything that is known to exist. It just sends chills up and down my spine when I think that we might have accomplished what most people would say was truly impossible."

Assuming that the team did discover a new kind of whale species, they would be the 24th species of beaked whales discovered.