Spade-toothed whales are the world's rarest, with no live sightings ever recorded. Until, perhaps, now. One may have washed up onto a New Zealand beach.

The body of a spade-toothed whale -- a species so rare it has never been seen alive -- appears to have washed up on a New Zealand beach, scientists say. The remains of the obscure, five-metre (16.4 foot) long, beaked creature were found near a river mouth ...

Spade-toothed whales are the world’s rarest, with no live sightings ever recorded. No one knows how many there are, what they eat, or even where they live in the vast expanse of the southern Pacific Ocean.

Department of Conservation (DOC) staff say that on July 4 they were notified a type of beaked whale around 5 meters long had washed ashore near Taiari Mouth. Upon inspection, and consultation with marine-mammal experts from DOC and Te Papa,