Mysterious Omura's Whale Filmed for the First Time

A kind of J.D. Salinger of the marine world was spotted in waters off the coast of Madagascar, when scientists there captured the first live footage of the elusive Omura's whale. Until now, the small -- about 33 to 38 feet long -- tropical marine mammal had been little seen in the wild, known only from sporadic strandings on shore and scant genetic data obtained in 2003 from earlier Japanese whaling expeditions. Forty-four groups of Omura's whale were documented over the course of two years by a team of researchers led by Salvatore Cerchio, a guest investigator with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a staff member at the New England Aquarium...