Scientists are starting the examination in Mosgiel, which is expected to take several days. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
The dissection of a rare spade-toothed whale in Dunedin is extraordinary and a world first, say scientists.
The adult male was discovered on a beach south of the city in July, and was only the seventh time a spade-toothed whale had been documented world-wide.
Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou has invited experts and other stakeholders to examine the spade-toothed whale this week in Mosgiel, forging a new way for science and culture to work hand in hand.
The world's first dissection of a rare spade-toothed whale that washed up on a beach south of Dunedin in July will happen today. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
When Anton van Helden first started researching spade-toothed whales, the species was known from a few collected bones, including a lower jaw, two teeth and a worn skull.
Now they have a 1380-kilogram whale to dissect - the first complete specimen that has been recovered in a good condition for examination.
"For me, this is an extraordinary thing. I've been studying beaked whales for 35 years. I was the one responsible in effect for giving it the name spade-toothed whale," he said.
DOC marine species senior science advisor Anton van Helden says it's an extraordinary opportunity. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Van Helden is the senior science advisor of the marine species team at the Department of Conservation (DOC) and said New Zealand was a key part in a global jigsaw to understand this animal.
He was sitting at home, recovering from surgery, when a photo of the whale was texted to him, to his shock and delight.
It was work from the local Rūnanga and DOC that got the animal into a freezer so they could bring together a team of experts.
It was a slow and methodical examination to describe and document everything that they could, but tikanga would be a key part of this work, he said.
"The actual practice of being with the whale, smelling that, looking at it, understanding what those structures are that will build those connections back through to those stories as well, which is so important. So much of that has been lost just through colonisation."
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai center for anatomy and functional morphology Professor Joy Reidenberg travelled over from the United States to join the examination. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Professor Joy Reidenberg, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, travelled over from the United States and was interested in how the spade-toothed whale had adapted to the environmental extremes.
"There are some diseases that mimic these extreme environments and if we can see how these whales survive in places we can not, we might be able to treat some of those diseases," Reidenberg said.
"If we can develop new protective devices for people who want to work and live in these extreme environments, we're going to learn it by looking at nature and how nature has solved the problem already and copy that."
She was excited to work with the Rūnanga to preserve traditions and cultural values, and scientific goals.
"What we are doing today is so important, it is going to set the precedent for how future dissections should go," she said.
Tumai Cassidy from Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou says the whale was found on their native reserve land on the Taieri. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Tumai Cassidy from Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou said the whale was found on their native reserve land near Taieri Mouth, describing it as a gift from the ocean that needed to be respected and honoured.
It was a huge opportunity as tangata whenua but also to invite experts to come under their mana to learn more about the species, he said.
It would help to expand their collective understanding and rangatahi were getting involved in the process, Cassidy said.
"To be part of that process is a huge thing for our hapu but also for our iwi to be able to have that experience and that capacity and capability so that when these events occur that we have local people who can actually take on some of that responsibility and do it justice."
In the examination room, the spade-toothed whale lay in the middle on a platform, and looked like a very large dolphin - about five metres long - with a very pointy jaw.
Van Helden said the cause of death might not be uncovered, but the dissection would help to find answers.
It's only the seventh time a spade-toothed whale has been documented worldwide, and the first time a complete specimen has been recovered in good condition for examination. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Kane Fleury from Tūhura Otago Museum said the whale would eventually be prepared to go into the museum as the skeleton had been gifted by Te Rūnanga ō Ōtākou.
"The flesh off the outside of the bones gets rotted down and then after that it requires a long period of degreasing so this is a long process that we undertake today, it going to take a week of dissection. But it's probably going to take three to four years at least before it actually is a finished product that can go into the museum in a clean, nice, sensible state," Fleury said.
The spade-toothed whale would initially form part of the museum's scientific collection before being displayed.
