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Rich Haul From Rare Whale

Information gained from the body of an extremely rare Shepherd's beaked whale is exciting researchers and anatomists at Massey University. The "extraordinary find" was the first Shepherd's whale to be discovered alive, with all its soft tissue intact and its natural body colouration. Only 13 other specimens of the species have ever been seen.

The six-metre, 1.5-tonne whale stranded on rocks near Nelson in April and died before it could be reached by Department of Conservation staff. The body was later blast frozen by Sealords before being transported to Massey's Faculty of Veterinary Sciences for dissection.

Professor Emeritus David Blackmore of the faculty's whale research group says information from the whale is tremendously important, and will add to knowledge of cetaceans in general. The whale has attracted considerable interest, including enquiries from the Smithsonian Institute in the US.

Dissection work has concentrated on the "melon" area of the head, where the whale's sonar system is located. This area varies dramatically between species of whale. Anatomist Dr Alex Davies is now using radiographs of the head area to create three-dimensional computer images of the size and shape of the various structures. The whale's skeleton will eventually be displayed at the Museum of New Zealand.

Although little of interest has been found in the stomach, a number of squid beaks have been found in the gut. These will be examined to establish what squid species have been eaten, hopefully providing clues on where the whale fed and lived. Skin samples for DNA typing and phylogeny, and the normal samples from stranded whales such as tissues for chemical analysis, have also been taken.

Whale researcher Allan Nutman says the whale's teeth look very worn, suggesting an older animal. He says the whale also has a number of interesting external features. These include the relatively small flippers and dorsal fin, placed well back towards the tail. This may lead to conjecture that the whale is a deep-diving species.

The Massey researchers are also particularly interested in the whale's blood supply to the brain and measures of electric impedance or resistance. This relates to their work on humane slaughter of whales, particularly those that have stranded.

The University recently became home to the Foundation for Studies of the Welfare of Whales. New Zealand has more whale strandings per area of coastline than any other area in the world, says Blackmore, and key aims of the foundation will be to investigate factors associated with mass strandings and develop methods to prevent them. Expertise in cetaceans, comparative anatomy and pathology has made the faculty the obvious site for such a project.