New Zealand scientists suspect that the world’s rarest whale specimen died from a head injury.

Scientists suspect the first complete specimen ever recorded of the world’s rarest whale died from head injuries. experts said on Friday

The first dissection of a shovel-toothed whale, or beaked whale, was completed last week. After painstaking investigations at a research center near the New Zealand city of Dunedin, said the local person leading the science team, Te Rūnanga Ōtākou, in a statement issued by New Zealand’s Department of Conservation.

The whale was caught on camera. Surprised New York City residents during a swim near Brooklyn.

A nearly perfectly preserved 5 meter (16 foot) tall man was found washed up on a South Island beach in July. It is the first complete example ever recorded. There have only been seven sightings of shoveled whales. And no living shovel whales have ever been seen.

New Zealand Beaked Whale Conservation Office Beaked whale expert Anton van Helden said the whale’s jaw was broken and contusions to its head and neck were severe. This has led scientists to believe that a head injury may have killed the whale.

In this photo provided by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. Rangers investigated what is believed to be a rare shoveled whale on July 5, 2024, after the whale was found washed up on a beach near Otago. New Zealand (Department of Conservation by AP)

“We don’t know, but we suspect there must be some kind of psychological trauma. But the reason why anyone can guess,” Van Helden said in a statement.

All species of beaked whales have different stomach systems. And researchers don’t know how shoveled whales process their food.

The scientific team found that the sample contained nine stomach chambers that contained remains of squid and parasitic worms.

What’s even more interesting is the small dent in the upper jaw.

“These tiny teeth embedded in the gums tell us something about their evolutionary history. It was amazing to see this. And it was just another thing that we didn’t know before,” Van Helden said.

“It was a week I will never forget in my life. It was definitely a highlight. And it was the beginning of telling a story about this beautiful animal,” Van Helden added.

This dissection is also notable because scientists and curators have worked with local Māori to incorporate indigenous knowledge and traditions into each step of the process.

After the autopsy The iwi or local tribes will preserve the whale’s jaw bones and teeth before the skeleton is displayed in a museum. 3D printing will be used to replicate those parts stored by the iwi.

To the Maori, whales were taonga, a prized possession. And this creature is treated with respect to the ancestors.

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New Zealand is a hotbed of beached whales. More than 5,000 episodes have been recorded since 1840, according to the Department of Conservation.

The first shovel whale bones were found in 1872 on New Zealand’s Pitt Island. Another discovery was made on an offshore island in the 1950s, and the bones of a third were found on Chile’s Robinson Crusoe Island in 1986.