A rare “spade-toothed beaked whale,” one of only a few ever found globally, washed ashore in New Zealand’s Otago region. The 5-meter-long whale’s discovery, announced by the Department of Conservation (DOC), is crucial for scientific study due to its extreme rarity and limited documentation since the 1800s. Samples have been sent for DNA analysis to confirm its species, highlighting international interest in this elusive mammal