World's rarest whale caught on camera for FIRST time ever and you won't believe your eyes!

'When we clearly saw that the right jaw was white and the left jaw was black, we knew that we were on to something very special'

The world's rarest whale, which was previously believed to have completely died out, was caught on camera in Madagascar by a team of biologists.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Omura's whales are extremely rare, so rare that scientists don't know how many still live. 

Salvatore Cerchio, who is a guest investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and led the research on Omura's whales at the Wildlife Conservation Society, explained that there were several sightings of Omura's whales, but none were confirmed.

In a news release, Cerchio said the whale sightings "appear to occur in remote regions and are difficult to find at sea, because they are small-they range in length from approximately 33 to 38 feet-and do not put up a prominent blow."

Cerchio continued, saying what little scientists and marine biologists know about the whales came from eight specimens taken in Japanese scientific whaling off the Solomon and Keeling Islands, as well as a few dead Omura's whales that had been stranded in Japan.

"This is the first definitive evidence and detailed descriptions of Omura's whales in the wild and part of what makes this work particularly exciting," he added.

The Royal Society Open Science published a paper last month where researchers described "foraging and vocal behaviors, and habitat preferences in the shallow waters of coastal Madagascar."

Because of their size, the Omura's whale has been historically misidentified as Bryde's whales, but what makes Omura's whales stand out are their unique assymetrical pigmentations on their heads.

Cerchio explained, "When we clearly saw that the right jaw was white and the left jaw was black, we knew that we were on to something very special. The only problem was that Omura's whales were not supposed to be in this part of the Indian Ocean. Rather, they should be in the West Pacific, near Thailand and the Philippines."

Though their numbers remain unknown, Cerchio and his team were able to catalog nearly 25 Omura whales.

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