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Previously unseen whale species washes up on New Zealand beach
LA Times ^ | 05 Nov 12 | Jon Bardin

Posted on 11/06/2012 11:46:52 AM PST by blueplum

Not one but two specimens of the world’s rarest known species of whale have been discovered on a New Zealand beach, according to a report published Monday in the journal Current Biology. The species, called the spade-toothed beaked whale, is so rare that before the find researchers weren't even sure if it still existed.

The two whales washed up on Opape Beach in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty. At first scientists thought they were examples of a much more pedestrian species, the Gray’s beaked whales, which are the most commonly beached whales in the region. But after undertaking a DNA analysis — standard procedure for beached whales that die on shore — the researchers were shocked to find that the whales were spade-toothed beaked whales, a species with no known sightings that was previously known only from three partial skulls.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: cryptobiology; cryptozoology; godsgravesglyphs; newzealand; oceanscience; paleontology; science; spadetoothedbeaked; whales
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a little distraction from the ocean while waiting on the polls...I wonder what brought them up from the deep?
1 posted on 11/06/2012 11:46:58 AM PST by blueplum
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To: SunkenCiv

ping!


2 posted on 11/06/2012 11:48:25 AM PST by blueplum
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To: blueplum

Global warming or to vote for Obama..............


3 posted on 11/06/2012 11:48:58 AM PST by Red Badger (Why yes, that was crude and uncalled for......That's why I said it..............)
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To: blueplum

This is really a very bad time for Christie to go on vacation.

Perhaps Greenpeace will push him back into the water and he’ll head home.


4 posted on 11/06/2012 11:51:49 AM PST by Gator113 (I would have voted for NEWT, now it's Romney & Ryan.~Just livin' life, my way~)
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To: blueplum

5 posted on 11/06/2012 11:52:13 AM PST by Jaxter ("Pro Aris et Focis")
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To: blueplum

Nobody has seen Michael Moore lately have they?


6 posted on 11/06/2012 11:52:55 AM PST by Proud2BeRight
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To: blueplum
Gray’s beaked whales, which are the most commonly beached whales in the region. .....the whales were spade-toothed beaked whales, a species with no known sightings that was previously known only from three partial skulls.

Never ever seen before and the only evidence it existed is three partial skulls.

So, with a very slight genetic difference, we have a whole new species of whale.....and one that still has never been seen.

7 posted on 11/06/2012 11:55:52 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (Jab her with a harpoon.....)
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To: blueplum

“...washed up on the beach.”

I’ll get excited when one *walks* up on the beach.


8 posted on 11/06/2012 11:57:08 AM PST by PLMerite (Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
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To: blueplum

Umm. They must come up for air if it is a whale! So coming up from the deep? Did you fail biology?


9 posted on 11/06/2012 11:58:02 AM PST by US_MilitaryRules (Unnngh! To many PDS people!)
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To: Red Badger
Global warming or to vote for Obama..............

Hey, whales are intelligent mammals.

Maybe they came up to vote for Romney and took a left instead of a right at Hawaii.

10 posted on 11/06/2012 11:58:27 AM PST by Nervous Tick ("You can ignore reality, but you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.")
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To: blueplum

Did Moo-chelle Obama swim close to new Zealand recently?


11 posted on 11/06/2012 12:10:43 PM PST by max americana (Make the world a better place by punching a liberal in the face)
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To: PLMerite
I'll get excited when one *walks* up on the beach.

That's more likely with a Gray's beaked whale...they are the pedestrian species.

This is simply a case of calling a spade-tooth a spade-tooth.

12 posted on 11/06/2012 12:14:26 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: US_MilitaryRules

no, but I did fail composition! I was referring back to this sentence from the article, “they may also die in the deep, making it unlikely that they will wash ashore”


13 posted on 11/06/2012 12:30:42 PM PST by blueplum
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To: Gator113

12.21.12 - - It is fast approaching with many signs.


14 posted on 11/06/2012 12:40:14 PM PST by Mr. Wright (NAACP)
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To: blueplum; shaggy eel

The poor thing died in an encounter with a shaggy eel...


15 posted on 11/06/2012 12:42:32 PM PST by null and void (Day 1386 of the Obama hostage crisis - Barack Hussein Obama an enemy BOTH foreign AND domestic)
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To: Mr. Wright

On Dec 21, 2012, Obama will have had a little over a month to stew in his humiliating, crushing and unexpected defeat at the hands of the American people.

He’ll still be Commander in Chief.

He’ll still have the nuclear ‘football’. Just sitting there. Staring at him. Taunting him. Daring him. Double-eaten-dog daring him...


16 posted on 11/06/2012 12:45:13 PM PST by null and void (Day 1386 of the Obama hostage crisis - Barack Hussein Obama an enemy BOTH foreign AND domestic)
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To: blueplum

17 posted on 11/06/2012 1:14:17 PM PST by BubbaBasher ("Liberty will not long survive the total extinction of morals" - Sam Adams)
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To: blueplum

Is it Chris Christie? I thought he was still in New Jersey.


18 posted on 11/06/2012 1:19:49 PM PST by Rummyfan (Iraq: it's not about Iraq anymore, it's about the USA!)
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To: Mr. Wright

No Christmas shopping..... !!!


19 posted on 11/06/2012 1:20:17 PM PST by Gator113 (I would have voted for NEWT, now it's Romney & Ryan.~Just livin' life, my way~)
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To: Gator113

You can still Christmas shop — before 12.21.12, but whether or not the gift is ever given will remain to be seen.


20 posted on 11/06/2012 1:23:53 PM PST by Mr. Wright (NAACP)
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