Description

Cuvier's beaked whale, goose-beaked whale, or ziphius is the most widely distributed of all beaked whales in the family Ziphiidae. It is smaller than most baleen whales—and indeed the larger toothed cetaceans —yet it is large among the beaked whales and smaller cetaceans, appearing somewhat like a bigger and stockier bottlenose dolphin. Cuvier's beaked whale is pelagic, generally inhabiting waters deeper than 300 m (1,000 ft), though it has been observed closer to shore on occasion. In these offshore waters, Cuvier's beaked whales execute some of the deepest and longest recorded dives among whales, and extant mammals. The current published records are 2,992 m (9,816 ft) for dive depth and 222 minutes for dive duration as recorded by biologging instruments attached to individual whales. While likely diving to forage and hunt prey, such as cephalopods, and potentially evade predators, the frequency and exact reason for these extraordinary dives is unclear. Despite its deepwater habitat, it is one of the most frequently-spotted beaked whales when surfacing.