3 min readNew DelhiNov 18, 2025 04:00 PM IST
First published on: Nov 18, 2025 at 04:00 PM IST
A team of scientists has spotted the rare ginkgo-toothed beaked whales for the first time in the wild along the coast of Baja California in Mexico. They used a modified crossbow to grab a tiny skin sample from one of the whales and confirm its nature.
The scientists detailed their findings in a paper, ‘First At-Sea Identifications of Ginkgo-Toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens): Acoustics, Genetics, and Biological Observations Off Baja California, México’, published in the journal Marine Mammal Science.
What are ginkgo-toothed beaked whales?
The ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) is one of 24 species of beaked whales, which are the second most diverse group of cetaceans after dolphins. As these whales have remained elusive, researchers know relatively little about them.
Most of the information about the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale comes from very sparse stranding records. Both males and females are believed to grow up to 17.3 feet. Their weight has been variously estimated as 1.5 and 3.6 tonnes.
According to Whale and Dolphin Conservation, a United Kingdom-based charity, the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale “has a robust body and is less heavily scarred than other beaked whales. This is either due to the lack of external teeth and/or suggests that there is little aggression between males… It is believed that males are dark blue-black with white spots with blotches around the belly area, whereas females are mid-grey with paler bellies than the males. The flippers are small, pointed and narrow.”
Why are these whales elusive?
The issue is that beaked whales are the deepest-diving mammals on Earth. They spend most of their lives in the oceans, only coming to the surface for air for a few minutes at a time, usually far away from coastlines. They are very shy and easily frightened when approached by a boat.
Robert Pitman, who was part of the team which spotted the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale, told The Guardian, “The Society for Marine Mammalogy has a list of 94 accepted species of cetaceans… A quarter of those are beaked whales, but most people have never even heard of them. These are the largest, least-known animals left on the planet.”
Why is the sighting of these whales in the wild important?
Researchers suggest that there is a need to gather more information about beaked whales, as they are sensitive to military sonars, which are known to interfere with their search for food. Also, in some instances, the sonars force these whales to ascend too quickly, leading to injury and even death.
“Knowing where these whales live can help mitigate the potential harm of sonar by avoiding military training in important beaked whale habitats,” The Guardian report said.
Most of the information about the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale comes from very sparse stranding records. (Illustration/Wikimedia Commons) 
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