An extremely rare spade-toothed beaked whale is being examined by researchers in New Zealand. Only seven of its kind have ever been found and almost nothing is known about the enigmatic species.

Scientists and culture experts in New Zealand have begun the first-ever dissection of a spade-toothed whale, the world's rarest whale species.

The week-long dissection offers a unique opportunity to study a deep-sea mammal that has never been seen alive.

New Zealand scientists on Monday began dissecting a whale considered the rarest in the world, a species so elusive that only seven specimens have ever been documented.