Scientists find rare tusked whale alive at sea for the first time — and shoot it with a crossbow

A photo of a juvenile ginkgo-toothed beaked whale in the North Pacific. .

Rare tusked whales have been identified and photographed alive at sea for the first time following a herculean research effort off the shores of Mexico, a new study finds.

The newly-sighted cetaceans are ginkgo-toothed beaked whales (Mesoplodon ginkgodens), which were previously only known from dead individuals that had washed ashore and from bycatch. This isn't all that unusual for beaked whales, which are deep divers and notoriously cryptic, spending their lives away from coastlines.