There’s a newly named species of whale that you won’t find on any posters or in any books… yet.
It’s Rice’s whale, endemic to US waters and highly endangered. The entire 37′ skeleton of the specimen (adult male) representing this new species was brought to the Bonehenge Whale Center from Florida for us to prepare for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Rice’s whale discovery links:
- https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/new-species-baleen-whale-gulf-mexico
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-rices-whale-became-new-species-180977009/
- https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/marine-mammal-protection/how-gulf-mexico-brydes-whale-became-rices-whale
- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/08/rices-whales-new-species-discovered-southern-us-coast
- https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/fewer-than-100-of-these-giant-whales-make-up-a-newly-described-species/