Scientists have discovered a new species of whale that has somehow remained incognito for the past 50 million years. The whale, informally named Karasu, has been the Bigfoot of the sea since a crew of Japanese whalers in the Nemuro Strait 70 years ago reported a fleet of whales that resembled smaller, darker versions of Baird's whale — hence the name Karasu, which translates to "raven" in Japanese.
The whale resurfaced (literally) last June on a beach on the Pribilof Islands in Alaska's Bering Sea. A local biologist spotted the remains and called in a team of experts who handed it over to Phillip Morin and his team at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Southwest Fisheries' Science Center.
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