Gray's beaked whale
Mesoplodon grayi
By: Dagmar Fertl
Edited by: Poul Vendel
The name:
The word Mesoplodon is from the Greek mesos meaning "middle",
hopla meaning "arms" and odon meaning "tooth". These words in
combination roughly translates to "armed with a tooth in the middle of the
jaw". This species was also named after the former Director of the British
Museum, J.E. Gray.
The look:
This beaked whale has a small head, with an extremely long, narrow beak. The
teeth are relatively small and triangular, near the middle of the beak. The
Gray's beaked whale is mostly gray, with white patches found in the genital
region and beak becoming white in adults.
The size:
The Gray's beaked whale can reach a maximum known size of 5.6 m and reaching a weight of up to 1100 kg.
Location in Africa:
The only records of a Blainvilles's beaked whale in African waters is off the
South African coast.
Interesting facts:
A small amount is known about the Blainvilles's beaked whale except that it often sticks its beak
out of the water as it surfaces to breathe.
Human impacts:
Human impacts in African waters are unknown.
Status:
Insufficiently known.
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