Hubbs' Beaked Whale
Mesoplodon carlhubbsi

Other Names: Arch-beaked Whale

Habitat: Offshore

Status: Unknown

Population: Unknown

Threats: Entanglement in fishing nets

Group Size: Unknown

Fin Position: Far behind center

Newborns: 8 ¼ ft (2.5 m), Unknown weight

Adults: 16 ½-17 ½ ft (5-5.3 m), 1-1.5 tons

Diet: Squid or octopus and occasionally fish

Teeth: 0 on top row and 2 on bottom row

Description

Dorsal fin:

- small, falcate dorsal fin

Flukes:

- dark upper sides, paler undersides
- no notch in flukes, but may be slight nick in middle
- pointed tips

Flippers:

- relatively small flippers

Head:

- long, stocky beak, usually white
- strongly arched mouth line
- massive teeth visible
- white "cap" around blowhole

Male Jawbone:

- flattened teeth set back from tip of jaw

Female Head:

- longer; slimmer beak than male
- teeth do not erupt
- mouth forms gentle, S-shaped curve
- head darker than tip of beak and lower jaw

Other characteristics:

- small light spots over much of body
- dark gray to black body color
- narrow tail stock
- robust, spindle-shaped body
- body covered in scratches and scars

Behavior

- with only a single possible sighting, very little known about behavior
- remarkable degree of scarring suggests considerable aggression between males
- presumably, it is shy and unobtrusive like other Mesoplodon species
- believed to lift its head clear of the water when surface to breathe

Distribution

- cold temperate waters of the eastern and western North Pacific
- in the eastern North Pacific, found roughly between 33º N (part of a skull was brought up by a submersible south-west of San Clemente Island, California) and 54º N (Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada); distribution may be related to confluence of the subarctic and Californian current systems
- most records from California
- more restricted range in the western North Pacific, with a few records from around the fishing town of Ayukawa, Honshu, Japan, where the warm, north-flowing Kuroshio Current meets the cold, south-flowing Oyashio Current in the southern Sea of Japan
- unlikely to be common in Japanese waters
- most records from strandings, but probably pelagic and may stretch right across the North Pacific


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This page was created by:Candice Orca Mottet