True's beaked whale

Skeleton of a True Whale

The True Whale ( Mesoplodon mirus ), also known as True 's beaked whale is a cetacean, which belongs to the genus of the two toothed whales ( Mesoplodon ) within the family of beaked whales ( Ziphiidae ). It has its name from its first describer, the American zoologist Frederick William True.

Distribution area

True Whales have a two-tier distribution area, they can be found in the northern Atlantic and the southern Indian Ocean. The population in the North Atlantic is in the West between the peninsulas of Labrador and Florida, in the east the British Isles and the Canary Islands are the limits of its range. The population in the Indian Ocean was discovered in 1959, strandings are from South Africa and Australia known. Maybe this whale is found in other regions of the world where it has not yet been discovered.

Description

With a maximum length of 5.3 meters and a weight of up to 1.5 tons of the True Whale is one of the major representatives of the two toothed whales. Males are slightly larger than females. The True Whale is colored slender and greyish, the underside is lighter, copies of the Indian Ocean are characterized by a marbled base. A striking feature of all animals is a dark ring around the eyes. They have a long snout, from which in males the two teeth of the lower jaw protrude, and a slightly domed forehead with a flat melon. The flippers are small, round and sit far down on the body, the Fluke is broad and not notched in the middle. Scars on the back and on the sides indicate rivals fighting between the males.

Way of life

True whales inhabit mainly the open sea and rarely come into the area of ​​coastlines. Only in 1993 were first clearly identified copies on the open sea, east of North Carolina, was observed. This school consisted of three animals and lived in a 1000 meter deep sea region. Like all beaked whales are likely true whales undertake long and deep dives, while squid, their preferred food record. About Social behavior and reproduction is not known.

Threat

True whales were hunted commercially never, but they get caught in fishing nets again and drown. Due to the rare sightings and strandings, it is believed that they are not particularly common, but exact data are not available.