Gray's beaked whale

Autopsy stranded Camperdown Whales

The Camperdown Whale ( Mesoplodon grayi ), also known as Gray 's beaked whale, a whale of the family of beaked whales is ( Ziphiidae ). With its long snout and the teeth in the upper jaw, it differs from the other members of the genus of the two toothed whales ( Mesoplodon ).

Dissemination

These animals are found living in circumpolar waters of the southern hemisphere. Strandings are occupied from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina, sightings of live animals are mainly reported from the southern Indian Ocean. A stranding in the Netherlands may indicate that these whales occasionally migrate northward.

Description

Camperdown Whales have an elongated, white muzzle, which includes in addition to the two triangular, large teeth of the lower jaw 34 to 44 small teeth in the upper jaw. Your body is dark gray, the abdomen, there are bright, irregular patches. At the age the jaw are white. Females are slightly larger than males, reaching up to 5.6 meters, while males are more than 4.7 meters long.

Unlike other two toothed whales Camperdown Whales live together in larger schools. From the 19th century, a mass stranding of 28 animals is known, which allows conclusions on the group size. As with most beaked whales, they feed primarily on squid and are considered good, persevering divers.

Frequent sightings and strandings suggest that the Camperdown Whale is one of the more common beaked whales, but exact data are not available.