The spade-toothed whale is a very little known because it is the rarest species of beaked whales. It was unknown until a partial jaw was found on Pitt Island in New Zealand in 1872 by a geologist named James Hector.

In December 2010, a female and a baby whale were found stranded on Opape Beach,New Zealand. They died soon and were at first thought to be Gray’s beaked whales. Later DNA analysis revealed that they were spade-toothed whale. They provided the first ever complete specimen of spade-toothed whale.

This species of whale inhabit Pacific Islands Region and have never been seen alive. It rarely gets washed ashore. So far we know nothing about their population or behaviour.