Cuvier's Beaked Whales

Cuvier's beaked whale is the most widely distributed of all beaked whales, best known for holding the record for the deepest and longest dive of any mammal ever recorded.

Classification

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Cetacea
Family	Ziphiidae
Genus	Ziphius
Species	cavirostris

Description

Cuvier's beaked whales have a robust body, a small beak, and a sloped forehead. Adult males are often heavily scarred from tooth-rake fights with other males, and mature individuals can appear pale gray to white on the head.

Diving

A tagged Cuvier's beaked whale set the record for the deepest and longest dive ever recorded by a marine mammal: nearly 9,800 feet deep and almost 3 hours and 42 minutes long.

Habitat

Cuvier's beaked whale is the most widely distributed beaked whale species, found in deep offshore waters in nearly every ocean, from the tropics to cold temperate seas.

Diet

They feed on deep-sea squid and fish, hunting at extreme depths where little sunlight penetrates.

Social structure

Cuvier's beaked whales are usually seen alone, in pairs, or in small groups of up to about 25 individuals.