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| Adult Male © Phil Coles |
Quick Facts |
| 5m? |
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Poorly known. Has stranded on the Californian coast. |
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Similar in appearance to Hector’s beaked whale (two confused in the past), but has shorter, stockier beak, with mouth line that curves up towards eye (more straight in Hector’s). distinctive pale markings in front of and behind the eye. Large teeth close to the tip of the jaw. |
| Probably deep sea squid and fish. |
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This is the most recently described of the beaked whales. Its true identity only being realised as recently as 2002 when some specimens thought to be of Mesoplodon hectori were genetically analysed and found to represent an entirely new species.
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| Adult Male © Phil Coles |
Its surface appearance it is very similar to M. hectori but, as with many Mesoplodonts, confirmation of identity of any specimens is currently dependant on subtle skull characteristics and genetic markers.
To date all the known specimens have been found on the coast of California, USA implying that its core range is focused in that area. Although there are no confirmed live sightings, some sightings of unidentified Mesoplodonts off the central California coast have been tentatively attributed to this species. Initial confusion over its identity has also resulted in its being depicted in some field guides as M. hectori. One of the stranded specimens – an adult male – was very fresh when it was first encountered. As there have been few, if any, fresh adult male specimens of M. hectori ever encountered this specimen was used as a base for depictions of M. hectori (the species the specimen was initially identified as) in field guide illustrations. |
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Key references;
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Dalebout, M.L., Mead, J.G., Baker, C.S., Baker, A.N. and van Helden, A.L. 2002. A new species of beaked whale Mesoplodon perrini sp. n. (Cetacea: Ziphiidae) discovered through phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences. Marine Mammal Science, 18: 577 - 608.
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