Whales - Species | Longmans Beaked Whale

Longman's Beaked Whale - Indopacetus pacificus

Longman's Beaked Whale is the one of the rarest cetaceans in existence, second only to the Spade-toothed Whale. In fact, it is so rare that there are speculations that it has never actually been identified, dead or alive, in the flesh, but only from rare sightings and suppositions.

According to the specimens discovered, the body of this whale appears laterally compressed and sleek as opposed to the rather plump bodies of some of the more common whale species. Adults have a long beak that slopes into a discreet melon organ, while the young have a far less pronounced snout. The skull is particularly large in comparison with the rest of its body. The Longman's Beaked Whale boasts a large, triangular dorsal fin in adults and a small, less defined fin in juveniles. Males are usually black or dark grey, which fades to a lighter grey and then white, with a light spot behind the eye. The females tend to be uniformly grey with a brown head. The colour of this whale species is less rigid and varies from whale to whale. Females average approximately 7m in length. Because no male specimens have been available for research, their particulars are not known in precise detail, but are based only on sightings from afar. One characteristic that has been noted is that the males’ skin is often scarred by attacks, particularly by cookiecutter sharks.

The Longman's Beaked Whale seems to prefer the waters of the Indian Ocean (from Africa to the Maldives) and the Pacific Ocean (from Australia to Japan). They have also been spotted off the coasts of Mexico and Hawaii. In fact, there have been reports of sighting 766 Longman's Beaked Whales off the Hawaiian coast, as discovered in a survey conducted in 2002. Wherever the sightings, a preference for deep pelagic waters has been noted. This may be another reason that these creatures are so rarely spotted.

Unlike other species of whales, the Longman's Beaked Whale prefers to travel in larger pods. These can consist of a few tens of animals, right up to hundreds of them. However, they usually average between 15 and 20. Members of the group are cooperative and seem to enjoy a sense of closeness with others in the pod.

When rising above the ocean’s surface, the Longman's Beaked Whale displays short conspicuous blows. Once they dip below the surface, they can stay underwater for up to 25 minutes.

The IUCN has listed the Longman’s Beaked Whale as Data Deficient and there is no information available on the size of its current population, or the major threats posed to it in the past or at present.