Scientists believe it's 'highly likely' they have identified a new species of orca

For the first time ever, scientists on a research mission in the stormy waters off the coast of Cape Horn, Chile, found and studied the mysterious Type D killer whale in the wild.

Robert Pitman with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it is "highly likely" these animals are a new species of orca. The killer whales were spotted in January in a region that has the "world's worst weather," Pitman told National Geographic. The Type D killer whales have proven elusive; experts had never seen any live and had to rely on the few amateur photos taken of the orcas and descriptions from fishermen.

One fisherman told the team where he last saw a Type D orca, and they anchored their ship there. After a week, a pod of roughly 25 Type D killer whales came up to them, and they were filmed in and above the water. Using a safe method, researchers took a small piece of blubber and skin from one of the animals, and they will use this to study its DNA and determine if it is in fact a new species.

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Pitman says there are noticeable differences between Type D killer whales and other known orcas: Their white eye patches are a lot smaller, their heads are more rounded, their dorsal fins are pointier and narrower, and they are much shorter in length. They've been hard to study because they live in subantarctic waters. "If you're a large animal trying to hide from science, that's exactly where you'd want to do it," Pitman told National Geographic. Catherine Garcia

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