A rare whale species has finally made its cinematic debut.
Science students captured two True's beaked whales on camera during an expedition in Portugal's Azores Islands. Their video is the first-ever recording of these elusive whales in the wild.
SEE ALSO:Scientists are now spotting whales from outer space using satellitesSuch live sightings are extremely rare events. Marine experts know so little about these elephant-sized whales that the species is among the least-understood large mammals on the planet. For example, scientists don't know enough about these whales to estimate the population size.
That's why researchers in Scotland decided to publish one of the most comprehensive surveys yet on True's beaked whales.
Their study, published Tuesday in the journal PeerJ, pulls together much of what we know so far about the torpedo-shaped whales. Their report includes the first-ever video, rare photos of a whale calf (!), as well as data collected from strandings and sightings and genetic analyses of individual whales.
True's beaked whales are one of 22 species of beaked whales within the Ziphiidaefamily.
BABY WHALE!Credit: Ida Eriksson (Futurismo)
(A) Worldwide known distribution of True’s beaked whales, and (B,C) locations of the reports included in the paper.Credit: peerjThe researchers also documented a new color pattern for these whales and defined the species' geographical boundaries in Atlantic Ocean. Once thought to be restricted to more temperate waters of the North Atlantic, the beaked whales' range also includes waters in the southern Indian and South Atlantic Oceans as well as the Tasman Sea.
True's beaked whales dive to depth for long periods of time, and they only pop up to the surface once in a while for short breathing intervals. They've been observed to dive all the way to 8,200 feet under the surface.
Marine biologists could use these insights to improve their long-term monitoring and conservation work for deepwater whales, according to the team at the Center for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modeling at the University of St. Andrew's in Scotland.
(责任编辑：探索)
Singapore rolls out video
Ellen grills Nicki Minaj on Nas dating rumors, and Nicki can't deal
Rejected penguin has found new outlook on life with cutout of anime character
Even the White House doesn't know what Ivanka Trump doesFake news reports from the Newseum are infinitely better than actual newsThis coloring book is here for all your relationship goals
LONDON -- We are living through the golden age of celebrity relationships. Gone are the days of tort
...[详细]Extremely normal shirt gets an honor roll student banned from graduation
A high school senior with a grade point average of 4.4 will not be allowed to walk at her own gradua
...[详细]Security researcher says he's figured out how to decrypt WannaCry
The ransomware WannaCry has infected hundreds of thousands of computer systems around the globe, but
...[详细]Hackers may be working to bring back WannaCry just for the lulz
When it comes to online currency, lulz just might outvalue Bitcoin. A unknown group of hackers is wo
...[详细]Olympics official on Rio's green diving pool: 'Chemistry is not an exact science'
The diving pool for the Summer Olympics mysteriously turned green this week in Rio de Janeiro, then
...[详细]Valve is trying to stop fake games on Steam by targeting trading cards, of all things
People are taking advantage of Steam's trading card system by creating fake games, collecting cards
...[详细]Fox News retracts Seth Rich story
The far right has been collectively fixated on one conspiracy theory for the past two weeks: that a
...[详细]5 Game of Thrones spinoff ideas we had in case HBO is interested
Well, Game of Thronesfans, it's official: there are FIVE spinoffs currently in development at HBO. G
...[详细]Tourist survives for month in frozen New Zealand wilderness after partner dies
A tourist from the Czech Republic, whose partner fell to his death, survived a harrowing month in th
...[详细]7 times Chris Cornell made us weep with his amazing voice
Chris Cornell, the voice of grunge giants Soundgarden and a fantastic vocalist in his own right, die
...[详细]'The Flying Bum' aircraft crashes during second test flight
Why it's finally time to dump Apple Photos for Google Photos
