Three whales spotted off the coast off Mexico are thought to be a previously unknown species. Researchers found the mammals while tracking beaked whales near the San Benito Islands in November.
Jay Barlow, a marine mammal biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, said they did not realise their discovery until later when studying photos, BBC gathered.
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The scientists are now awaiting the DNA analysis of water samples that could hold skin cells for possible DNA testing to confirm whether the whales are a new species.
If confirmed, it would bring the number of known beaked whale species to 24.