Scientists capture first footage in years of rare creatures breaching in ocean: 'We got great looks'

An ocean tour group had a whale of a time when it was treated to a rare glimpse of a seldom-seen marine megafauna off the Californian coast.

According to CBS8, the sighting took place during a whale watching excursion off the coast of San Diego. It's fair to say the watchers got their money's worth, as they were treated to a rare glimpse of a pair of sperm whales coming to the surface. That came after they'd already spotted a minke whale. The agency, San Diego Whale Watch, described the incredible experience in a social media post, writing, "We got great looks at spouts, back, dorsal fins, and strong archers with tail flukes lifted to the sky!"

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sperm whales are the largest toothed whales in the world and primarily feed on deep-sea cephalopods, such as octopuses and squid. After a successful hunt, they return to the surface to breathe and expel nutrient-dense waste that helps fertilize the ocean.

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Males are much larger than females, reaching up to 60 feet in length and weighing in at around 46 tons. Their interesting name is short for spermaceti, an oil once highly prized by whalers. The species was nearly hunted to extinction as a result but has since rebounded, though it remains vulnerable. The whales are threatened by marine plastic pollution and being caught in the nets of commercial fishing vessels.

The tour group would have noticed the size of the whales' heads, which constitute roughly a third of their body length. Those giant heads are far from empty; at 20 pounds, the sperm whale boasts the largest brain of any creature in the world. More interesting still is how the whales communicate through a series of clicks; these highly sociable giants even have distinct accents depending on their locales, per National Geographic.

The story encapsulates how valuable cameras can be for conservation research. In some distant locations, trail cameras are capturing footage of the planet's most elusive creatures. At the same time, amateur footage by members of the public can also be incredibly useful for researchers.