In 2011, the Yogiti Makati tribe found a huge whale stranded on a New Zealand beach. This strange whale aroused the interest of the tribe members greatly, so they called it “Nihongo”, as the whale was preserved in a New Zealand museum.
At first, experts thought that the whale was one of the beaked whales, but after examining and studying the details of the whale, scientists discovered a new type of whale that had not been previously observed in the depths of the water.
The new whale was called at the Proceedings of the Royal Society B in its second session, the nickname “Ramari’s beaked whale”.
The whales of the northern hemisphere are different from those discovered in the south
The whale derives its nickname from the cosmopolitan whale researcher and expert, Ramari Stewart, who played an essential role in discovering the newly discovered whale, in addition to the fact that “Ramari” means “rare event” in the Maori language, which is the local language of that region.
When discovering the whale, scientists thought it was just an ordinary beaked whale, but Stewart thought there was something strange about this whale, as she noticed some fundamental differences.
With most “new” whale species named after white male Western scientists, the Ramari’s beaked whale is a welcome new approach to naming a species. Appropriately, “Ramari” means “rare event” in the Māori language. Read more about this incredible find ➡️https://t.co/YXrdi3Z5T1 pic.twitter.com/IrRPp8WhGd
— Whale & Dolphin Conservation (WDC) (@whales_org) October 30, 2021
Stewart worked with researcher Emma Carroll of the University of Auckland, where the team discovered that beak whales in the northern hemisphere are different from those in the southern hemisphere.
The researchers discovered that the beaked whales had different sizes and different genes, as scientists had discovered beaked whales in the seas of the northern part of the planet, but the new study confirmed that those that live in the seas and oceans in the southern part of the planet are completely different.
The authors of the study cited in a report in the journal “the hill” said the naming and discovery of the new species could serve as a model for future discoveries.
How is a giant whale hidden from scientists to this day?
According to scientists, the secret of some of these new species, which are considered large, can be hidden because they do not live on the surface of the water or near the surface of the water.
And the scientists indicated, according to the eco watch website, that these discovered whales live at a depth of more than 6,000 feet (1828 meters), and get their food at depths of 3,000 feet (914 meters) to avoid being preyed upon by orcas, which made them invisible to this day. This.
The authors of the study explained that beaked whales in general are difficult to study because they rarely appear on the surface, and are difficult to distinguish when they appear and are generally classified among the “data-deficient” organisms.