The tiny group of endangered whales that make the Gulf of Mexico their home turned out to be a previously unknown species.
The best count is that there are about 33 of the long, slender filter feeders - and definitely fewer than 100 of them.
They're listed as endangered in the US and as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
They were classified as one of three of Bryde's (pronounced BROO-duhs) whale subspecies, but many scientists suspected they were something different.
A file photo provided by the US National Park Service shows scientists performing a necropsy on Bryde's whale found off Florida.(AP)