UNCW marine mammal team plays role in identifying previously unknown whale species, 17 years later
UNCW marine mammal team plays role in identifying previously unknown whale species, 17 years later By WECT Staff | February 16, 2021 at 9:52 AM EST - Updated February 16 at 4:34 PM
CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. (WECT) - All the way back in 2003 two members of the UNCW Marine Mammal Stranding Team were called to Carolina Beach to check out a whale that had washed ashore - when they got there - they realized it was something they had never seen before.
Now, more than 17 years later, it turns out they were right.
A 38-foot-long (11.5 meters) whale that washed ashore in the Florida Everglades in January 2019 turns out to be a completely new species. And it s already considered endangered, scientists say.
An individual whale that has been studied in Florida over the last two years is part of a small group being named a new species. Where the sea creature was found sets it apart from similar animals. Rice’s whale is a newly-named species of fewer than 100 baleen whales found in the northeastern Gulf of […]