Hector's Beaked Whale

Sierra Handbook of Whales and Dolphins

The Hector's Beaked Whale, or Mesoplodon hectori is 6.5 ft. long at birth and can get up to 13.25 to 14.75 ft. when fully grown. They weigh up to 2 tons and are commonly found in the temperate waters of southern hemisphere, south of the tropic of Capricorn and termperate eastern North Pacific. Most of the recorded sightings and standings of the Hector's Beaked Whale is from New Zealand, with some reports of them at Falkland Sound, Falkland Islands, Tasmania, Tierra del Fuego and southern California. The adult male has one pair of relatively small triangular, flattened teeth near the tip of their lower jaw. They are grayish brown on back, lightening to pale gray on their lower flanks, belly, lower jaw and chin. They can have linear or oval scars on their flanks; with areas of white around their umbilicus. They are rearly seen and their is only 14 specimens known to have been seen.

Andrea Vanessa & Erica @ the Advanced Technologies Academy