Blainville’s Beaked Whale – Mesoplodon densirostris
Blainville’s Beaked Whale, also known as Dense-Beaked Whale, belongs to the family of the Ziphiidae and thus is part of the order of the Whales (Cetacea). It got named by Henri de Blainville, who first described it in 1817 only by a jaw.
Copyright: Ocean Explorer La Palma
Description
The Blainville’s Beaked Whale has a dark grey colour at the top, while the belly is light grey to white. Often it is marked with white scars. Its muzzle is long and the lower jaw slightly arched upwards. Two large teeth grow in this vault.
Habitat and Distribution
Mesoplodon densirostris is found in all subtropical and temperate oceans. Sightings are known from Portugal, South Africa, Japan, the western Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean, the Canary Islands, the North American Atlantic coast, the western Indian Ocean and the Central Pacific.
Biology
It lives in small schools of two to nine animals that prefer the open sea and rarely come close to the coast. During their dives, times of up to up to 45 minutes and depths up to 1200m were meassured. It feeds mainly on fish and cephalopods.