Ginkgo-Toothed Beaked Whale: First-Ever Live Sighting in 2025

In November 2025, scientists achieved something never thought possible: the first confirmed visual sighting of living Ginkgo-toothed beaked whales (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) in the wild. Until now, this mysterious deep-sea creature was known only from washed-up carcasses and faint echolocation pings. The historic encounter off Baja California, Mexico, has sent waves of excitement through the marine biology world and made headlines globally.

Here’s your complete, up-to-date guide to the Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale in 2025.

Historic 2025 Sighting: A Breakthrough Moment

On 17 November 2024 (published November 2025), researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Mexican partners spotted two individuals:

• An adult male with visible ginkgo-shaped teeth and classic scarring
• A smaller juvenile traveling alongside

Using a low-impact biopsy dart (which an albatross hilariously tried to steal mid-flight), the team collected a skin sample that genetically confirmed the species. This marks the first time humans have ever seen a living Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale instead of just finding stranded bodies.

The discovery, published in Marine Mammal Science, also confirmed that their distinctive “BW43” echolocation signal occurs in the eastern Pacific, dramatically expanding the known range of this elusive species.

What Does “Ginkgo-Toothed” Actually Mean?

The name comes from the whale’s most striking feature: adult males have two flat, leaf-shaped teeth that erupt from the middle of the lower jaw. These teeth resemble the fan-shaped leaves of the ancient Ginkgo biloba tree, hence the scientific name Mesoplodon ginkgodens (literally “ginkgo-toothed weapon tooth”).

Fun fact: Only mature males have these exposed teeth. Females and juveniles keep theirs hidden beneath the gum.

Key Facts & Characteristics 

Where Do Ginkgo-Toothed Beaked Whales Live in 2025?

Until the Mexico sighting, confirmed records came only from strandings in:

• Japan (most frequent)
• Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand
• Sri Lanka, Maldives

The 2025 discovery proves they also inhabit the eastern Pacific, with acoustic evidence now linking populations from California to the Galápagos.

They prefer water deeper than 1,000 m and almost never approach the coast, which explains why they stayed hidden for so long.

Why Are They So Hard to Study?

• Spend 90%+ of life below 500 m depth
• Surface for only 2–3 minutes at a time
• Extremely boat-shy; flee at the first engine noise
• Live far offshore in the open ocean

Most of what we know comes from rare strandings and passive acoustic monitoring of their unique BW43 click trains.

Conservation Status & Threats (2025)

• IUCN Red List: Still listed as Data Deficient
• Main threats:
  • Bycatch in drift gillnets and longlines
  • Ocean noise pollution (naval sonar, shipping)
  • Plastic ingestion and climate change

They are protected under CITES Appendix II and various regional agreements, but better population data is urgently needed.

Why This 2025 Sighting Matters

This isn’t just a “cool whale video.” It proves:

1. Visual identification in the wild is now possible.
2. Acoustic monitoring can track them effectively.
3. Their range is larger than previously thought, opening new research and conservation frontiers.

Marine biologists are calling it “one of the most significant cetacean discoveries of the decade.”

Final Thoughts

The Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale reminds us how much mystery still swims beneath the waves. After more than a century of knowing them only from dead specimens, we finally met them alive in 2025, and they were every bit as enigmatic and beautiful as imagined.

Keep an eye on the deep Pacific. The age of discovering “new” whales isn’t over yet.

Related searches:

• First sighting Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale 2025
• Mesoplodon ginkgodens Mexico
• Deepest diving whales
• Rarest beaked whale species
• BW43 echolocation signal

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