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 Mathew Hardy describes how many under-utilised ziphiid specimens held in museums worldwide might hold numerous possibilities in further unlocking the hidden world of the beaked whales. |
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Beaked whales have always been somewhat of an enigma to me; the idea of there being all these different species of these often bizarre looking animals swimming throughout the oceans of our world, and yet remaining largely unknown to but a few lucky researchers managed to capture my imagination from an early age. For many years I absorbed all the literature I could find on these cryptic mammals, as I endeavoured to learn more about them and their mysterious lives. Unfortunately there was never a great amount of information readily available to a young ‘beaked whale buff’.
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Volcanic Beach Iceland - © Mathew Hardy |
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Schools don’t stock scientific journals, and the media couldn’t be relied upon giving us much more than the occasional teasing morsel of information - usually found lurking in a small column stuck somewhere around page 22, underneath an attention grabbing heading such as “Stranded mystery whale excites scientists” only to then allocate the story a couple of paragraphs before never mentioning it again. Even a number of books on whales & dolphins (both those aimed at the more generalist reader, and those for the scientific community) barely gave beaked whales more than a fleeting mention – and this to the second largest family of cetaceans after the Delphinidae! Then, thankfully, along came the World-Wide-Web and a whole new wealth of information, images, and resources about these whales became available to enthusiasts such as myself. |
Minke Whale Iceland - © Mathew Hardy |
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Undertaking the M.Sc. course in Marine Mammal Science, at the University of Wales Bangor, formed the perfect opportunity to get my first ‘hands-on’ experience of some real ziphiid research. Even before the course had begun I was already contemplating what sort of topic I could undertake for my thesis, secretly hoping that somewhere along the line a project involving beaked whales would magically arise. Then in November of 2004, Dr. Colin Macleod of the University of Aberdeen (and a noted beaked whale expert) paid a visit to the university in Bangor to give some lectures about the Ziphiidae family to the class. With help from Colin a suitable idea for a research project was developed that promised to both answer and raise, some interesting questions on beaked whale morphology & behaviour. At last I was going to begin some real research on the Ziphiidae!
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Norwegian Fjords - © Mathew Hardy |
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Now for any of you that think that almost all cetacean research is largely field-based, and involves countless hours of lounging around on board well-equipped research vessels, whilst soaking up the sun in a variety of exotic locations as the researcher waits for a glimpse of their oft-elusive quarry, you are sadly mistaken. True, those days do occasionally occur (and we are all, quite naturally, filled with pity for those unfortunate souls that must suffer them!). However, a significant amount of research is both lab and museum-based, and completely devoid of the continued consumption of copious quantities of sea-sickness pills or alcohol, and by this I don’t just mean carrying out hour upon hour of statistical analysis, or sitting in front of some coma-inducing computer program (although they too fill many a researchers day!).
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Leiden, The Netherlands - © Mathew Hardy |
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No, what I actually mean is that research on the anatomy, morphology and behaviour of cetaceans is also still carried out without getting any toes wet. Museums, marine research institutes and the like, are fantastic sources of often under-utilised specimens of cetaceans. It is a shame that so many of these specimens and exhibits are used by so few researchers, and that most just sit and collect dust year upon year and decade upon decade. However, for those enlightened few, these specimens can prove to be a veritable goldmine of information on each species, especially those species that are rare, hard to find, or exhibit cryptic behaviour in their natural environment. One family that ticks all those boxes is the Ziphiidae. |
Leiden, The Netherlands - © Mathew Hardy |
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With opportunities to study beaked whales in the wild being incredibly few and far between, much we have learned, and continue to learn about these animals, comes from strandings and retrieved specimens held in zoological collections. However, with the relative scarcity of ziphiid specimens available to the researcher, any study that requires an effective sample size of specimens will often necessitate the researcher to travel – unless you live in a large city or near an important university, it is unlikely you will be fortunate enough to find many ziphiid specimens/exhibits in your local museum! My research was no different in this respect.
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Common Seal - © Mathew Hardy |
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For my own study I needed to gain access to a good sample of skulls of the bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon spp.) and Cuvier’s beaked whale, Ziphius cavirostris. As it was the study of the skulls of the northern bottlenose whale, H. ampullatus, that formed the main bulk of my research topic, it was important to track down as many specimens of this species as possible – finding any number of specimens of the southern bottlenose whale, H. planifrons, and Cuvier’s beaked whale in these collections, or in collections nearby, was a happy coincidence.
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Bryggen in Bergen - © Mathew Hardy |
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Without a comprehensive database of cetacean specimens held in museum collections available (something that with regards to ziphiids, we here at the Beaked Whale Resource are looking to change in the near future) it meant many weeks of making phone calls, sending emails and faxes, and spending countless hours searching around on the internet for possible locations of these specimens. Thankfully with the kind help and assistance of a number of cetologists, researchers and curators throughout Europe, I was able to track down a sufficient number of skulls to begin my project. Naturally, it was discovered that the main bulk of these museums resided in countries that lay within the range of the northern bottlenose whale itself. Financial and time constraints precluded visits to every location where skulls were found, but nonetheless visits were made to museums and zoological collections throughout the U.K., the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. |
Sperm Whale - © Mathew Hardy |
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I have always wanted to visit both Iceland and Norway - most of us have, however, somehow I could never seem to justify the inherent expense of visiting either. Fortunately for me, these two beautiful countries have something in common – they both have a good selection of northern bottlenose whale specimens in their museum collections, something that finally gave me reason enough to raid my bank balance and hop onto a plane and check-off another couple of life-long ambitions!
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Bergen, Norway - © Mathew Hardy |
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I got to experience wonderful Reykjavík, Ólafsvík, Akureyri and Húsavík in Iceland – and see hundreds of minke whales, many white-beaked dolphins and porpoises, as well as a breaching humpback whale, from a handful of whale-watching operations from each of these localities. In Norway too, I witnessed some fantastic scenery and beautiful cities such as Oslo, Bergen, Sandefjord, and Tromsø, as well as viewing sperm whales in the cold deep waters off Andenes in the Vesterålen Islands. Add in delights of cities such as Amsterdam, Leiden, Copenhagen, Cambridge, London and Glasgow, the whole period of data collection became a rather exciting adventure, and one that has provided me with countless happy memories and stories – most of which I must add, are a touch too risky to put into print here! |
Bergen, Norway - © Mathew Hardy |
So, although my ziphiid research never took me out into the ocean directly, I still got to travel and see some wonderful cities, scenery and sights, none of which would have been possible without my journey coinciding with my research. Maybe it’s time for more researchers, especially those studying ziphiids, to look into utilising some of those dusty specimens locked away in museums and zoological collections around the world – unlike their living counterparts these ones don’t require many a wasted hour trying to catch a quick glimpse; once you’ve located them they are not going anywhere. And you never know, you’ll almost certainly have to travel to some pretty interesting places to see them – I know I did!
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Sexually and age dimorphic weapons are a characteristic feature of the beaked whales (Ziphiidae). This study examined the extent, development, dimorphic nature and possible functions of specific structures found in the heads of three species of ziphiid, all associated with intraspecific agonistic interactions. 69 skulls from three species were examined, and where necessary, measured for comparison. The ‘maxillary crests’, found on the dorsal surface of the skull in the bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon spp.) were studied in detail, as was the ‘prenarial basin’ and rostrum in Cuvier’s beaked whale, Ziphius cavirostris. The data collected was related to information from published sources concerning the changing size, shape and pigmentation of the forehead. The bottlenose whales exhibit noticeably different maxillary crest structures. Those found in the northern bottlenose (H. ampullatus) are sexually dimorphic, although in males they remain virtually indistinguishable from those found in females until the onset of sexual maturity, whereupon they develop into massive proportions. The development of a mass of fibrous tissue leads to an increase in the size of the forehead, and a change in its shape (from bulbous to flat). This process was found to be largely independent of the maxillary crest development, until the point when the crests attained their largest sizes and exhibited flattened tops, resulting in physical maturity. As a result, the forehead begins to change in colouration from grey to white. This characteristic is likely to represent a ‘badge of quality’ to potential opponents or mates regarding ‘fitness’. Together, this development in forehead and maxillary crest size and shape, creates an effective ‘weapon’ for head-butting encounters whilst protecting the functional melon. The maxillary crests found in the southern bottlenose whale (H. planifrons) were found to be smaller and exhibit no sexual dimorphism, despite exhibiting a forehead shape similar to that of H. ampullatus. The prenarial basin of Z. cavirostris develops in males only, and corresponds with a process of ossification of the rostrum. The resulting basin eventually envelops the melon to increase its protection during male-male agonistic jousting encounters.
To download a pdf copy of Mathew’s thesis: “Extent, Development and Function of Sexual Dimorphisms in the Skulls of the Bottlenose Whales (Hyperoodon spp.) and Cuvier’s Beaked Whale (Ziphius cavirostris)” Select the link above.
For information regarding aspects of this study, or requests of access to the spreadsheets containing the raw data and associated appendices of the thesis (including a list of the museums visited, specimens measured and individual measurements taken et cetera) please contact the author directly on: mat_hardy017@yahoo.co.uk |
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There are far too many people that are deserving of a thank you to mention here, so for a complete acknowledgements list see the one contained within the thesis itself. Those that I would like to briefly thank here are Dr. John. C. Goold of the University of Wales Bangor, for allowing me on to the M.Sc. course in the first place, and Dr. Colin D. MacLeod of the University of Aberdeen for his ideas, input and constant reassurances throughout the duration of the study. The project would have never got off the ground without his help. Most importantly I have to give thanks to my family who helped to support me, both morally and financially throughout my studies.
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