cavirostris, but has been reported in the diet of Baird's Beaked Whale (Berardius bairdii) at similar latitude in the western Pacific off Honshu, Japan and in the boreal southern Sea of Okhotsk (Walker and others 2002).
Diets of Baird's Beaked Whales, Berardius bairdii, in the southern Sea Of Okhotsk and off the Pacific coast of Honshu, Japan.
There were only 6 sightings of beaked whales, but all 3 genera (Ziphius,
Berardius, and Mesoplodon) known to be present off Southern California were detected.
Take reduction plans currently are in effect for the harbor porpoise, Phocoena phocoena, in the Mid Atlantic and Gulf of Maine regions; large whales (Eubalaena glacialis, Megaptera novaenangliae, and Balaenoptera physalis) in the Atlantic; and the pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus; pygmy sperm whale, Kogia breviceps; sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus; humpback whale, Megaptera novaeanliae; and beaked whales (
Berardius bairdii, Mesoplodon spp., Ziphius cavirostris) in the Pacific.
The absence of California sightings for two beaked whale genera (Mesoplodon and
Berardius, Table 7) since 1996 is disconcerting, especially in light of recent discoveries about the susceptibility of this group to loud anthropogenic sounds (Simmonds and Lopez-Jurado, 1991; Cox et al., 2006); however, weather conditions were less favorable for the detection of beaked whales during the more recent surveys (Fig.
Julian and Beeson (1998) reported a total of 20 Cuvier's beaked whales, Ziphius cavirostris; one Baird's beaked whale,
Berardius bairdii; one Stegneger's beaked whale, Mesoplodon stegnegerii; five Hubb's beaked whales, Mesoplodon hubbsi; two unidentified mesoplodont beaked whales, Mesoplodon sp.; and three unidentified beaked whales observed killed in this fishery between the years 1990 and 1995.
Less frequently observed species were minke whales (Baleanoptera acutorostrata; 42 sightings), fin whales (Baleanoptera physalus; 15 sightings), sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus; 7 sightings), and Bairds beaked whales (
Berardius bairdii; 10 sightings).
In odontocete males, these characteristics are present in the form of "weapons," such as the tusk of the narwhal (Monodon monoceros) and the teeth in species of the genus Grampus, Physeter,
Berardius, Hyperoodon, and Mesoplodon used in male-male combats (MacLeod, 1998).