Rare whale beached in Japan

A whale that beached itself in Japan this summer has turned out to be the most complete specimen ever seen of a rare species, scientists have said. The creature, which died soon after coming ashore in July, has been identified as a Longman's beaked whale. . . Japanese scientists realised soon after the animal was buried that it was unlike other whales known in Japanese waters and dug it up on 3 August to perform tests. They announced on Wednesday that the 6.5-metre (21-foot) female was the first whole adult specimen ever found. . .

[The] species - Indopacetus pacificus - is known from two skull samples, one found in 1882 and the other in 1968, and from other fragmentary remains found in South Africa, the Maldives and Kenya. . . they have only been seen two or three times alive

Posted by David on December 26, 2002 12:50 PM