We know more about the universe and what happens in the stars than what happens under the waves of the sea. Currently, about 95% of the marine ecosystem remains unexplored. It’s amazing to think that today, even with the amount of cameras, satellites and other technology, there are animals that have never been discovered before. I’m not talking about cryptic insects and small camouflaged fish, I’m talking about big whales. This group includes, among others, whales, porpoises, dolphins, orcas, porpoises and beaked whales. Huge sea animals, which, believe it or not, remain a mystery to us.

Large marine mammals were considered ‘sacred’ in many ancient cultures. There are stories of guardian spirits in the form of whales represented as totems in Inuit culture (people who inhabit the arctic regions of North America). In some Asian cultures, bones are used in rituals and ceremonies. And they are even found in various myths such as the one about Jonah who lived inside a sperm whale. They say that these majestic and imposing creatures preserve the knowledge of our history, like walking libraries. Without a doubt, there is a lot of symbolism and mystery surrounding these animals.

Their complex social behavior, their language, the maternal care they show and their intelligent hunting strategies make us attracted to them and even identify with them. Among whales, behavior is passed down from generation to generation, as is their song language.

Within this enigmatic group are beaked whales: they are neither whales nor dolphins, but something in between. Beaked whales are a group of more than 20 different species (still being discovered), which live in the depths of the ocean and spend less than 10% of their lives on the surface. Many have been identified by strandings or by skulls found on the beach, however, they have never been seen in their environment. Beaked whales dive very deep, up to thousands of meters, holding their breath for 3 hours or even more. When they need to breathe again, they rise to the surface and breathe for less than 5 minutes before returning to the seabed. They can be up to 13 meters long, and as they are very elusive and shy, studying these animals becomes impossible. This behavior of using such a deep habitat is believed to stem from a desire to avoid being overrun by killer whales or sharks that usually feed on the surface. To find food, beaked whales use echolocation: low-frequency sound waves that bounce off objects and thus whales locate their prey, especially in the darkness of the seabed.

I recently went on a small boat to see what surprises the sea has to offer and I was lucky enough to see a beaked whale on the surface. The sea does not allow us to forget that it hides great riches and stories to tell. If we focus on what’s out there and ignore going deeper, we’ll miss the wonderful surprises we might find, even in the vast darkness of the ocean floor. (OR)