Cuvier's beaked whale

Cuvier 's beaked whale ( Ziphius cavirostris )

The Cuvier 's beaked whale ( Ziphius cavirostris ) is the most widespread species of beaked whales. It takes its name after the German naturalist Georges Cuvier, who previously unknown animal described 1823. With a depth of 3 km and a dipping time of 2 hours they are the record holder in civil engineering and Langt diving among all mammals - even before the Southern elephant seals.

Features

The beak of this whale is shorter than other beaked whales and actually resembles the beak of a goose. The animal is 7 meters long and three tons. The color is a different shade of brown or gray in each individual; also creamy white or black Cuvier 's beaked whales occur. There are only two functional teeth in the lower jaw, all the other teeth of the upper and lower jaws are stunted. These two teeth in the male are much larger and more developed than in the female.

Dissemination

Cuvier 's beaked whales live in all three oceans. They inhabit tropical, subtropical and temperate latitudes and were seen even in subpolar waters.

Way of life

Like all beaked whales they appear long and deep and feed primarily on squid. With a maximum depth of 2992 m and a dipping time of 137.5 minutes off the coast of California, they even put on the record for the dive depth and dive length among all mammals. The analysis of more than 1000 deep dives resulted in an average depth of 1400 m. These dives are made ​​possible by a particularly high content of oxygen-carrying protein myoglobin in muscle cells. The scientific evaluation of the dives of seven Cuvier's beaked whales in the Ligurian Sea showed that depths were achieved from 1900 meters. Average took every dive one hour.

Threat and protection

For commercial whaling of the Cuvier 's beaked whale was never of interest. Japanese fishermen occasionally catch him and bring his body to the local fish markets, but in any significant number.