Facts

• Beaked whales are among the least-known groups of mammals due to their usual deep-sea habitat and elusive behaviour.

• They are remarkable deep divers. The goosebeaked whale Ziphius cavirostris holds the record for any breath hold diving mammal, with one holding its breath for 222 minutes, and recorded diving to 2,998 m.

• Beaked whales have comparatively small flippers that they tuck in alongside their bodies when diving.

• They are the second most diverse group of cetaceans after dolphins. There are 24 known species of beaked whale, ranging from 4-13 m long.

• Aotearoa is thought to be a global hotspot for beaked whales. 13 species have been found here, and 7 of these were first scientifically described from animals stranded on Aotearoa’s shores. These are marked with an asterisk (*) in the list below.

• Most of the beaked whale species found in Aotearoa are classified as ‘Data Deficient’.

• In te reo Māori, Gray’s beaked whale is specifically known as hakurā, which is the most common stranding beaked whale species in Aotearoa. But the term hakurā is also used more generically to describe other species in the beaked whale family.

• Despite being ‘toothed’ whales, only Shepherd’s beaked whale Tasmacetus shepherdi has functional teeth in both the upper and lower jaw. Most of the other beaked whale species only have a single pair of teeth in the lower jaws. These are not visible in juveniles or females, as they only erupt above the gum in mature males. In mature males these are called ‘tusk’ teeth and play a role in sexual selection.

• Most of what is known about these animals comes from the examination of dead stranded animals.

The beaked whale species found in Aotearoa

• *Andrew’s beaked whale Mesoplodon bowdoini
• Dense-beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris
• Ginkgo-toothed whale Mesoplodon ginkgodens
• *Gray’s beaked whale Mesoplodon grayi
• Pygmy beaked whale Mesoplodon peruvianus
• Strap-toothed whale Mesoplodon layardii
• *Spade-toothed whale Mesoplodon traversii
• *Hector’s beaked whale Mesoplodon hectori
• *Ramari’s beaked whale Mesoplodon eueu
• *Arnoux’s beaked whale Berardius arnuxii
• Goosebeaked whale Ziphius cavirostris
• *Shepherd’s beaked whale Tasmacetus shepherdi
• Southern Bottlenose whale Hyperoodon planifrons

Spade-toothed whale

A scientific illustration of the male and female spade-toothed whales
Image: Uko Gorter ©

The spade-toothed whale, Mesoplodon traversii, is thought to be the world’s rarest and least known whale.

Only 7 records of this species exist anywhere in the world, and all but one were found in New Zealand.

Until 2010 no one had seen this whale in the flesh, and, as far as we know, it has still not been seen alive at sea. Before 2010, the species was only known from a jawbone and two partial skulls.

Scientists from New Zealand confirmed that these 3 animals were from the same species, and a species that wasn’t known from any other specimens.

A male spade-toothed whale stranded and died at Waipiro Bay, Gisborne in 2017 and was identified using a DNA sample
Image: DOC

The species was first seen intact in 2010 when a mother and calf stranded in the Bay of Plenty, allowing the colour pattern to be described. The first live sighting of the species came when an animal stranded at Waipiro, Gisborne in 2017, but the animal died soon after and was subsequently buried. Only skeletal remains and genetic samples were able to be collected from any of these strandings.

A fresh dead 5 m male was found stranded at Taiari, Otago in July 2024. The collaborative efforts of the local rūnaka and DOC to get the animal into cold storage has enabled the possibility of the first ever dissection of this species. This will enable the first description of this species’ internal anatomy.

The Otago whale

DOC ranger Jim Fyfe examines the male spade-toothed whale that washed ashore at Taiari mouth, Dunedin, in July 2024
Image: DOC

On 4 July 2024, DOC staff were notified a type of beaked whale around 5 m long had washed ashore near Taiari Mouth.

Upon inspection, and consultation with marine-mammal experts from DOC and Te Papa, it appears the creature was a male spade-toothed whale – a species so rare next to nothing is known about them. A small DNA sample sent to the NZ Cetacean Tissue Archive later confirmed the species ID.

Thanks to relationships with Te Rūnanga o Ōtakou and the quick thinking of DOC rangers, the tohorā  (whale) was preserved for research, so we could learn more about this mysterious species.

In a world-first, the tohorā is being dissected in Dunedin in early December 2024.

The globally significant opportunity to examine the mysterious tohorā is led by Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou in partnership with DOC, working with Tūhura Otago Museum, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka University of Otago, whale recovery expert Hori Parata (Ngāti Wai), and international marine biologists from the USA. 

Scientists will be working to describe as fully as possible the external and internal anatomy of the animal, as a baseline to underpin future studies of the species worldwide.

This will help build a picture of how spade-toothed whales live and may help us to better conserve the species.

The tohorā stranding and dissection is very significant for mana whenua. It allows mana whenua to reconnect and apply indigenous knowledge and traditional cultural practices that have been passed down from generation to generation. 

Download a fact sheet about this significant discovery (PDF, 721K)

World's rarest whale washes ashore in Otgao: Media release 15 July 2024

Threats

Despite their remote habitats, these elusive whales are not immune to the impacts of human activities. There are records of entanglement in fisheries, more problematic it would seem is the ingestion of plastic pollution leading to injury or death.

Studies into the impacts of military sonar overseas has revealed that beaked whales are particularly sensitive to noise, and this has been implicated in atypical mass strandings.

Climate change and associated ocean acidification effects may impact on them even in these deep-water environments, as these effects are likely to impact their largely invertebrate prey.

Our work

DOC is responsible for managing strandings. When a stranded whale or dolphin dies, or when they are washed up already deceased, DOC works with tangata whenua and research partners to take information and samples to help us better understand them.

Beaked whales can be very difficult to ID, so an important step in this process is the collection of a small DNA sample.

Examination of dead stranded whales provides a rare insight into the lives these animals live in the wider ocean, where studying them is difficult.

Typically, beaked whales strand as single animals or as cow/calf pairs, Gray’s beaked whale is unique in that they are known to mass strand. Other species of beaked whale are involved in what we call ‘atypical mass strandings’, where rather than all stranding in the same spot, the stranding is spread out along a coastline. Such atypical strandings are associated with human-induced noise incidents.

The importance of DNA

DOC has a contract with the University of Auckland to curate the NZ Cetacean Tissue Archive. The archive is a collection of small skin samples that can be used for genetic analysis.

It’s a collection of national significance and the second largest of its kind in the world.

The archive holds over 3,000 samples from 36 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises that have been found beach-cast around Aotearoa.

The DNA samples allow us to discover rare and cryptic species, such as beaked whales. It is because of these DNA samples that the first intact spade-toothed whale was discovered and able to be unearthed.

Collecting the Spade-toothed whales: Te Papa'a blog

In 2021 NZ scientists announced that they had described a new species of beaked whale from the West Coast, named Ramari’s beaked whale after Ramari Stewart, a Mātauranga Māori whale expert.

As well as providing species identification, these samples, once collected in significant numbers, allow scientists to look at genetics at the population or species level. Notably, in 2013 the Gray’s beaked whale was able to be moved from 'Data Deficient' to 'Not Threatened' in the NZ Threat Classification System due to genetic studies on the genetic diversity and therefore the assumed population size of the species.

Conservation status of New Zealand marine mammals, 2013 (PDF, 603K)

You can help

Report sightings

You can report sightings of whales to our conservation hotline 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468). You can also report a sighting online.

Reports of sightings are always valuable and help increase our knowledge of whale distribution and movements around New Zealand.

Record the details

Include as much information as possible with your sighting:

• the date, time and location (GPS coordinates if possible)
• the number of whales and whether any are calves
• the direction they were travelling
• take photographs or video; focus on identifying marks, the left side of the head, and shots of the full length of the body.

Strandings

Report injured, stranded, or dead whales to the DOC emergency hotline 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468).

How you can help in a stranding. 

Further information

Find and download a poster from NOAA about the beaked whales of the world