kanaloa

Cuvier's Beaked Whales 

Cuvier's Beaked Whale

(Ziphius cavirostris)

Few whales are such wanderers as the Goosebeaked, or Cuvier's Beaked Whale, as it is more often called, and yet it rarely has been seen alive by naturalists . It has been recorded on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, off Sweden and Rhode Island, south in the Mediterranean Sea, and off South Africa and Argentina. In the Pacific Ocean it ranges from the Commander Islands and Alaska south to New Zealand and Tasmania, and also on the coast of India.
Goose-beaked Whales attain a length of at least 28 feet. Males have a single tooth at the end of each lower jaw, which projects an inch or more beyond the gum. The thickset body has a strongly marked medial keel extending from dorsal fin to tail; the caudal flukes are not separated by a distinct notch.
The color pattern of this whale is especially variable. An 18-foot male from Ireland and

a 19-foot female from New Zealand had the head, the neck, and the back in front of the dorsal fin colored a creamy white, the remainder of the body being black. Other females were purplish black above, spotted or brown on the sides, and white below.
At the mating season the males apparently not only fight among themselves but attack the females and half-grown young, Cuvier's Beaked Whale depends to a considerable extent

on cuttlefish for food. Schools of 30 to 40 travel in rather close formation, swimming and diving more or less in unison. After reclining at or near the surface for about 10 minutes spouting, the school dives as if by command and remains below searching for food for intervals up to half an hour or more.

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