@...@An international team of biologists has made the first~ever field observations of one of the least known species of whales in the world~~Omura*s whales~~off the coast of Madagascar//
In a paper published October 14, 2015, in the Royal Society Open Sciencejournal, the researchers describe the whales* foraging and vocal behaviors, and habitat preferences in the shallow waters of coastal Madagascar//
For many years, these marine mammals were misidentified as Bryde*s whales due to their similar appearance~~both are small tropical baleen whales with comparable dorsal fins, though Omura*s are slightly smaller in size and have unique markings with a lower jaw that is white on the right side and dark on the left//
@...@In 2003, using genetic data from samples obtained from old whaling expeditions and a few strandings in the western tropical Pacific, scientists determined Omura*s whales were actually a distinct species// But there had been no confirmed records of sightings in the wild and little else has been known about the elusive species until now//