A research trip along the coast of Baja California, Mexico, led to a world first.

Scientists from Oregon State University and the U.S. military's Naval Information Warfare Center were aboard the Pacific Storm research vessel in June 2024, searching for the elusive ginkgo-toothed beaked whale and other rare sea creatures, according to The Guardian. The ginkgo-toothed beaked whales are so rare that, until this voyage, there were no photos of the species alive in the wild, only shots of dead ginkgo-toothed beaked whales found on beaches.

While on this 2024 trip , researchers spotted what they believed were juvenile beaked whales surfacing and then disappearing beneath the water's surface. Photographer Craig Hayslip snapped shots of the swimmers, and researcher Robert Pitman fired a

See Full Page