One of the most mysterious whales in the ocean has been captured on film for the first time. In fact, the footage comes from the first confirmed observations of the species in the wild.
Omura's whales were long mistaken for another species. Genetic data confirmed their uniqueness in 2003, but all of the information came from dead samples - whale bits left over from Japanese whaling expeditions and carcasses found stranded on shore. Small at around 10 metres long and inconspicuous, live examples remained elusive.
WATCH: First footage of the graceful, elusive, Omura whale
In a study published recently in the Royal Society Open Science Journal, researchers report encounters with 44 groups of Omura's whales off the coast of Madagascar. When they first spotted the species in 2011, the marine biologists thought they must be mistaken.