 A rare thing. It's a species we know almost nothing about. It's some sort of whale, that much we know. And though Van Helden is still waiting on the DNA analysis, the Department of Conservation announced this week that it may be one of the rarest whales in the world. A species that has never been seen alive at sea. The elusive spade-toothed whale. In a way, it looks like an oversized dolphin with a long beak.