Stranded spade-toothed beaked whales in New Zealand in 2010

University of Auckland & New Zealand Department of Conservation

Dataset credit

Peter Livingstone, New Zealand Department of Conservation

Rochelle Constantine, University of Auckland

Contacts

RoleNameOrganization 
Primary contact Rochelle Constantine School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland
Data entry Ei Fujioka Duke University

Citation

Abstract

The vast expanses of the South Pacific Ocean have, until recently, concealed the identity of the world's rarest whale, the spade-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon traversii). Based on the scarcity of records and the total absence of previous sightings, this species is the least known species of whale and one of the world’s rarest living mammals. Two individuals of this species, previously known from only two skull fragments and a mandible, were recently discovered beachcast in New Zealand. Although initially misidentified, we have used DNA analysis to reveal their true identity. We provide the first morphological description and images of this enigmatic species. This study highlights the importance of DNA typing and reference collections for the identification of rare species.

Purpose

N/A

Supplemental information

Data of two stranded individuals are represented as one observation.

References

Attributes

Overview

This section explains attributes included in the original dataset. OBIS-SEAMAP restricts the attributes available to the public to date/time, lat/lon and species names/counts only. Should you need other attributes described here, you are encouraged to contact the data provider.

Attributes described below represent those in the original dataset provided by the provider.
All attributes are included in the downloadable file (CSV or ESRI File Geodatabase) for "Complete Set of Dataset".

Attributes in dataset

Attribute (table column)Description
oidUnique ID (created by OBIS-SEAMAP)
obs_date31 December 2010
locationOpape, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
lat_s37 deg 58
lon_s177 deg 25
latitude37.9775
longitude177.418889
sp_obsspade-toothed beaked whale
sp_scientificMesoplodon traversii
sp_tsnITIS Taxonomic Serial Number assigned by OBIS-SEAMAP
obs_count2
notesfemale (5.3m) and male offsprin (3.5m)
collectorPeter Livingstone, New Zealand Department of Conservation; Rochelle Constantine, University of Auckland, New Zealand
OBIS-SEAMAP ID882
Seabirds0
Marine mammals1
Sea turtles0
Rays and sharks0
Other species0
Non spatial0
Non species0
Total1
Date, Begin2010-12-31
Date, End2010-12-31
Temporal prec.111000
Latitude-37.98 - -37.98
Longitude177.42 - 177.42
Coord. prec.6 decimal digits
PlatformShore
Data typeAnimal sighting
EffortN/A
Traveled (km)0
0
Contr. through
Registered2012-12-05
Updated2013-10-11
StatusPublished
Sharing policy CC-BY (All)
Shared with OBIS
GBIF (via DOI)
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See metadata in FGDC XML
See download history / statistics