A new species of whale hiding in plain sight

Rob Moir
3 min readJan 31, 2024

The scale and depth of the world’s oceans mean it sometimes takes a very long time before a new species comes to light — even when it’s one who was hiding in plain sight.

In 2021, scientists officially declared a new species of whale known as Rice’s whale. For decades thought to simply be a type of Bryde’s whale, Rice’s whales have hooked dorsal fins, sleek, gray bodies, three prominent…

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Rob Moir

Rob Moir is writing environmental nonfiction and writes for the Ocean River Institute and the Global Warming Solutions IE-PAC newsletter.