for several decades, fishermen and tourists alleged that glimpsed a different type of killer whale off Chile's southern coast, but it is only now that researchers have been able to take samples to confirm that it is actually a yet undiscovered species of killer whales.
" We are very excited by what the genetic analyses will show. It can be a clear indication of how little we know about life in our oceans, " says Bob Pitman, marinforskare which was a part of the research team who discovered the whales, to the Independent.
Späckhuggarna, not yet identified, called currently the ”Type D”.
Top killer whale is described as a ”typical” killer whale, while the lower one is the ”Type D” which is smaller, and has a more rounded head and narrower, more pointed fins. Photo: Illustration: Uko Gorterthey glimpsed the ”Type D”, but the researcher had previously explained their anomalous appearance as a genetic mutation. Compared with other orcas are of the ”Type D” is slightly smaller, and has a more rounded head and narrower, more pointed fins.
According to the magazine Pitman have been looking for späckhuggarna since 2005, when he for the first time got to see a picture of them. The whales are difficult to find because they live far to the south in what Pitman describes as one of ”the most unpleasant sea on the planet”.
" I have been looking for them for 14 years. Now I have finally got to see them, " he says.