Scientists have finished dissecting a spade-toothed whale, “thought to be the world’s rarest whale”, in Otago. Today, they revealed what they found.
The male spade-toothed whale washed ashore at the Taieri River mouth in July. It was carefully preserved before the week-long dissection began.
“Vestigial teeth were just one of many new discoveries made by scientists during the dissection of the rarest whale in the world,” Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou said in a statement today.
The project was led by Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou in partnership with the Department of Conservation, Otago Museum and the University of Otago.
“Not only was this tohorā (whale) the first of its kind to be dissected by science, but it was also the first time our hapū (subtribe) worked with scientists to pull together indigenous and western knowledge systems so we can all gain a better understanding of the whale and its behaviours,” said Rūnanga member Rachel Wesley.
She called the dissection “groundbreaking”.
What they found
DOC Marine Science Advisor and beaked whale expert Anton van Helden led the examination.
He said “a lot of new discoveries were made last week, with more to come” – but the tiny vestigial teeth in the upper jaw were a key point of interest.
“These little teeth embedded in the gum tells us something about their evolutionary history. It’s remarkable to see this and it’s just another thing that we had no idea about,” van Helden said.
The whale had nine stomach chambers, the team discovered.
“In some of those stomachs we found squid beaks and some lenses from the eyes of squid, a few parasitic worms, and maybe some other parts of organisms that we are not quite sure of. We have a parasitologist who will study them to find out what they are,” van Helden said.
“We also found interesting structures associated with both feeding and sound production. Weights and measurements and descriptions were made of various muscles and organs, to help us describe this species and make comparisons with related species.
“These all add to the body of knowledge we are building.”
The whale had bruising on its head and neck, and a broken jaw, van Helden added.
This led the scientists to believe it suffered “some sort of head trauma that may have been the cause of its death”.
“We don’t know but we suspect there must have been some sort of trauma, but what caused that could be anyone’s guess.”
Whale named Ōnumia
Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou named the whale Ōnumia, after the traditional name of the area where it beached.
“This process was led by our rakatahi (young people) and guided by our esteemed guests from Ngāti Wai – Hori Parata and his son Te Kaurinui – who are tōhuka (experts) in working with these taoka (treasures),” Wesley said.
“By working with and learning from leaders in te ao Māori, as well as leaders in western science, our rakatahi can revive ancient matauraka (knowledge) and develop an in-depth knowledge system to pass onto the next generations.”
Where to next
Now, scientists will analyse the data.
Their findings will be published under the direction of Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou.
“It’s a week I’ll never forget in my life,” van Helden said.
“It’s certainly a highlight and it’s the start of the storytelling around this beautiful animal.”
