Whales

Stejneger's Beaked Whale - Mesoplodon stejnegeri

The body of the Stejneger's Beaked Whale is dark grey or black on the dorsal side, and lighter on the head, neck and ventral side. This colouring gets even darker with age. Males have a distinctly arched jaw, with two particularly large teeth. From the limited specimens available, it is evident that the average length of an adult whale of this species is just over 5m, although females are thought to be the slightly larger of the two. Their bodies taper towards the front and back, and the beak is of an average length. Scars from cookiecutter sharks are clear on the flesh of both male and female Stejneger's Beaked Whales.

The Stejneger's Beaked Whale maintains an elusive front. It may be the case that it is a rare breed of whale, or that it just isolates itself so effectively that humans are not able to spot it or have access to it very often.

This whale prefers to travel in small pods, with the individual members often within such close proximity with one another that they almost make contact. At times, this group may grow to up to 15 members, and has been known to separate according to genders. From the surface, the Stejneger's Beaked Whale rolls slowly into a shallow dive that last about 15 minutes.

While there is not enough data to establish the most pertinent threat to the Stejneger's Beaked Whale, some have been found in driftnets off the coast of Japan, giving some indication of the impact that humans currently have on these creatures. Male Stejneger's Beaked Whales fight against one another, and are capable of doing a fair amount of damage. Still, this is insufficient to have any significant effect on their population numbers.