The Blainville's beaked whale

​General description

The Blainville's beaked whale is characterized by a robust, spindle-shaped body. Its head has a slightly marked melon and a flat forehead. In males, imposing triangular teeth, 15 to 20 cm high, on a strongly arched lower jaw. The dorsal fin, small and triangular, is located towards the rear.  In terms of coloring, females have a gray dorsal cape, while males are more dark gray and have numerous scars. Blainville's beaked whales often have circular white spots on their bodies, which are actually bite scars.

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Habitat

Cosmopolitan and pelagic, the Blainville’s beaked whale prefers tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions.

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Diet

Blainville's beaked whales feed on fish and cephalopods found at depth, in the water column or on the surface of the seabed. They carry out an average of 10 feeding dives per day. There is a characteristic diving and echolocation pattern in which long dives (50 minutes) to depths (600 to 1200 meters), dedicated to foraging, are interspersed with prolonged intervals of shallow dives (100 to 200 meters). During each deep dive, they produce several thousand echolocation clicks to search for prey, and approximately 20 to 40 sequences of rapidly accelerating clicks, called buzzes, when attempting to capture prey.

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Behavior

The Blainville’s beaked whale travels in small groups of 3-7 individuals. These groups are generally harems, made up of one male and several females. This species is rarely seen at sea because it tends to avoid ships. Like other beaked whales, Blainville's beaked whales are deep divers. Typical dives last between 20 to 45 minutes and generally reach depths of at least 500 to 1000 meters.