Jessica Groff, Amanda Powers, and Amy Whitaker

Beaked whales, family Ziphiidea, are among the most primitive of whales and the least known of all cetaceans (Encyclopedia of Mammals 1984). This is a large family having 19 species, and 6 genus names (Myers, 1997). The largest number of species (12) falls into the genus Mesoplodon. This genus has a strong possibility of dividing into 2 separate genus names. If this does occur 5 of the Mesoplodon species will shift to the new genus, Micropteron (Hall, 1981). Beaked whales are found in all the world oceans, yet are rarely every seen (Nowak and Paradiso, 1983). Beaked whales are deep divers. Their dives range from 45 minutes up to 2.5 hours (Encyclopedia of Mammals 1984). Often when they are diving they are looking for squid which is the dominant food source for beaked whales. They also may feed upon octopus, crustaceans, and deep-water fish. Beaked whales travel individually, in small pods (3to4), or large pods with up to 40 individuals (Nowak and Paradiso, 1983). As a beaked whale pod surfaces for air after a dive, they surface together, take 3 to 4 breaths of air and then dive again. Characterized as medium sized whales, their length rages form 4 to 13 meters (Watson, 1981). Beaked whales can weight from 1,000 to 11,500 kilograms (Myers, 1997).

The general body-shape of these whales is what sets them aside from any other cetaceans. They have distinctive long and narrow beaks. In other words, the lower jaw, pan bone, extends out farther than that of the rostrum, or the upper jaw. Their pectoral fins are relatively small and oval in shape. The ends gently point, and are similar to that of the Beluga Whale (http://www.whales.magna.com.au/Discover/beaked/bairds.html). Beaked whales also have small dorsal fins which are set back far on the body, 55-65% of the distance from the rostrum to the tail. Unlike other cetaceans, the trailing edge of the fluke has no notch (Watson, 1981). There are however three exceptions to these characteristic. The Goosebeaked, True and Baird’s Beaked Whales all have a notch in their tail flukes. The throat of a beaked whale has 2 V-shaped external grooves and up to 6 internal groves (Encyclopedia of Mammals 1984). These groves might be useful for whole food consumption.

The skulls of beaked whales are very important for identification of different species (Myers, 1997). In fact, the Indo Pacific Beaked Whale has only been identified through 2 washed up skulls, one in Somalia and the other in Australia (Watson, 1981). The shapes of the skulls are asymmetrical just like the Bottlenose dolphin skull that was examined in lab a few weeks ago. The palate, which is the forehead region, is strongly convexed in shape more so than in other cetaceans. This may aid in the uniform direction of sound out of the head. The lower jaw is wider or slightly wider then the narrow rostrum (Myers, 1997). Beaked whales have well-developed melons, which suggests that these whales do echolocate.

What’s up with the teeth? The teeth of beaked whales seem to have little or no real function to the mammal. They do have 1-4 functional teeth in the lower jaw, which have a tusk appearance (Watson, 1981). The number and shape of the teeth vary from species to species. Male and female teeth vary as well. The teeth of a female, for most species, remain buried in the gums, were the males have 1 to 4 functional teeth in the lower jaw (Myers, 1997). The one beaked whale exception to this rule is the Shepherd's. This particular whale has 34-42 teeth on the top jaw and 36-56 on the lower jaw (Nowak and Paradiso, 1983).

These whales can be found in all oceans even off the coast of South Carolina. They normally inhabit deep waters off the continental shelf break, therefore they are rarely seen. The five most common species to the waters of South Carolina are the Goosebeaked, Blainsville, Gulfstream, Northern Bottlenose, and the True's Beaked Whale (Leatherwood et al, 1983).

An interesting fact about beaked whales is the meanings behind their Latin scientific names. Mesoplodon means, "armed with a tooth in the middle of the jaw" (Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, 1997) -- although, that seems like an awfully long definition for one word. Ziphiidae means "the sword nosed whale". Another fun fact about these whales is that the tusks can grow up and over the rostrum, possibly preventing the whale from opening its mouth (Encyclopedia of Mammals, 1984). The tusks can also protrude out of the mouth creating quite an interesting look for the whale. Beaked whales have the longest gestation period of any cetacean, and it may last up to 24 months. The last fun fact regarding beaked whales is one of the oddest. They have a 4 to 14 chambered stomach and one could only imagine the amount of food these guys can eat (Nowak and Paradiso, 1983).

The following is a list of the different Genus and Species of Beaked Whales (Encyclopedia of Mammals, 1984):

Hyperoodon Genus:

Berardius Genus:

Mesoplodon Genus:

Encyclopedia of Mammals. 1984. 210-213. (*book not available for citation information, under repair at library*)

Hall, E. 1981. Cetaceans: Family Ziphiidae-Beaked Whales. Mammals of North America. John Wiley and Sons: New York, NY. 2:2:904-911.

Leatherwood, S.; R. Reeves; and L. Foster. 1983. The Beaked Whales. Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. Sierra Club Books: San Francisco, CA. 105-151.

Nowak, R. and J. Paradiso. 1983. Cetacean: Family Ziphiidae. Walkers Mammals of the World. The John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, MD. 2:4:905-910.

Watson, L. 1981. Family Four-Ziphiidae. Sea Guide to Whales of the World. Elsevier-Dutton Publishing Co.: New York, NY. 108-147.

Myers, P. "Ziphiidae." 1997. http://www.oit.itd.umich.edu/bio108/Chordata/Mammalia/Cetacea/Ziphiidae.shtml

http://www.whales.magna.com.au/Discover/beaked/bairds.html

Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network. "Species corner: Blainville's beaked whale." 1997. http://www.tmmsn.org/mmgulf/mesoplodon_densirostris.html

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