Australian researchers Thursday revealed they had filmed a pod of extremely rare Shepherd’s beaked whales for the first time.
The Australian Antarctic Division team was tracking blue whales off the coast of Victoria state last month when they spotted the reclusive mammals, which are so rarely seen that no population estimates of the species exist.
“These animals are practically entirely known from stranded dead whales, and there haven’t been many of them,” Voyage leader Michael Double told AFP, calling the footage “unique.”
