Researchers have called for urgent protection for a unique Gulf of Mexico whale that studies suggest could be one of the most endangered species in the world.

This specific type of Bryde's whale live in waters off the Florida panhandle. Latest calculations show there are only 50 left living under severe threat of habitat destruction.

The whales, pronounced BROO-DUS whales, were recently found to be genetically different from any other whale found anywhere in the world.

"This is a small population that is in difficult straits ... their numbers are under 50, they're struggling to exist in one of the most heavily industrialized bodies of water in the world," said Michael Jasny from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The NRDC are petitioning to have the small number of Bryde's whales left in the Gulf listed as endangered. The hope is that listing would guarantee the protection and support needed to allow them to recover.

"You have a population of whales that without listing will perish," said Jasny.

Key to the NRDC campaign are recent findings that suggest that the Gulf colony are the only whales of their kind in the world.

Bryde's whales do exist elsewhere but research completed after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill found that the Gulf variant is in fact, genetically unique.

As well as their unique gene code, the whales also have a signature whale call that scientists from Cornell University Bioacoustics Research Program found to be unlike any other whale call. You can hear it in this video where it has been speeded up to make it audible to the human ear.

First indications on the success of the petition to have Gulf Bryde's whales listed are due in December.

If successful, a listing would restrict any operations in the area that directly or indirectly threaten the whales and their tiny habitat including commercial operations like oil and gas drilling.

The whales live in the so-called DeSoto canyon, which is adjacent to the Mississippi canyon where the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred.