A Whale of a Tale: Underwater Footage Snapped of Stealthy Sea Mammal (VIDEO)

A team of intrepid scientists managed to obtain the first underwater footage of an extremely rare whale, which is considered among the most elusive in the world.

The elusive True’s Beaked Whale was caught on film by the staff of a German educational program called Master Mint, who were leading a group of schoolchildren on a field cruise.

The three-beaked whales suddenly surfaced near the educators’ inflatable boat and remained in its vicinity for about ten minutes, presenting the team with a perfect opportunity to leap into the water and film the creatures with a GoPro camera.

The footage was released to the public by an international team of scientists who have been studying the recorded sightings of True’s Beaked Whales.

True’s Beaked Whale, a medium-sized deep-diving whale in the mesoplodont genus, was first described by American zoologist Frederick W. True in 1913. These elusive creatures spend most of their time underwater, surfacing only for brief periods of time, which makes sightings of them few and far between.