Scientists identified a new whale species in the Gulf of Mexico.
The animal now known as Rice’s whale was formerly known as the Bryde’s whale.
The name change doesn’t change the species status — the whale remains endangered.
News of the new species broke this winter, with publication of an article in the Marina Mammal Science journal and circulation of news releases and press statements from key players, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The lead author of the article titled “A new species of baleen whale from the Gulf of Mexico, with a review of its geographic distribution” works for NOAA.
Fisheries scientist Patricia Rosel started the journey toward identifying Rice’s whale in collaboration with NOAA scientists Keith Mullin and Lynsey Wilcox.
Mullin had been studying Gulf whales since the 1990s and believed they were rare and needed protection.
Rosel and Wilcox were examining genetic data obtained from whale samples collected on a NOAA vessel in the Gulf from 2008 when they recognized genetic material that looked different from that of other whales.
Further, Rosel identified diagnostic characteristics that distinguished the Gulf whale she was interested in from other closely related baleen whale species.
Integral to identifying the new species was the examination of a whale skull in 2020.
The skull came from a whale that had stranded in Florida off Everglades National Park in 2019.
The dead animal was examined, then buried at Fort DeSoto Park in Pinellas County and then exhumed for more research, including body measurements of the whale to compare with those from other strandings.
“The morphological differences, when combined with the genetic data Rosel and Wilcox had collected, were enough to distinguish this as a new species of baleen whale,” according to NOAA, whose partners in the lengthy research effort include Sarasota-based Mote Marine Laboratory, Everglades National Park Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and others.
The Rice’s whale is considered one of the rarest in the world and only about 50-100 exist in the Gulf, their primary habitat being offshore of the Florida coast.
The species faces multiple threats — vessel strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, proposed aquaculture activities, exploration for oil and gas and pollution — and extinction is not out of the question.
What killed the whale stranded at the Everglades park and exhumed from Fort DeSoto?
A necropsy revealed a 3-inch hunk of plastic lodged in its gut that may have contributed to its demise.
A sad end for the hero of this whale tale.
About Rice’s whale
Rice’s whales can weigh up to 60,000 pounds, which is about five times as heavy as an elephant.
The whales can grow up to 42 feet long.
Not much is known about their life expectancy, but closely related species reach sexual maturity at 9-years-old and can live about 60 years.
The biggest threats to the species include vessel strikes, ocean noise, energy exploration, development and production, oil spills and responses, entanglement in fishing gear and ocean debris.
The new name honors biologist David Rice, the first researcher to recognize that Bryde’s whales exist in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Latin name for Rice’s whale is Balaenoptera ricei.
For now, the whale remains protected as the “Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale” under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
NOAA will need to follow a regulatory process to update the name in the listing once the “Rice’s whale” is accepted by the Society for Marine Mammalogy Committee on Taxonomy.