The Sowerby’s beaked whale is a puzzeling speicies because it is often found beached on shores in the North Atlantic area. Sowerby’s beaked whales are reclusive creatures that stay away from ships and are rarely sighted. The whales are occasionally in groups of 8-10 individuals. They are believed to primarily feed on squid and molluscs, but cod has also been found in their stomachs.

 

Sowerby's beaked whale has a normal body shape for the genus, and is mainly distinguished by the male's dual teeth positioned far back in the mouth. The whale's beak is moderately long, and the head is slightly convex. The coloration pattern is a grey with light countershading on the bottom. Frequently found are shark bites and scars from the teeth in males. The whale reaches 16 feet in females and 18 feet in males, with a weight of 2200-2900 lb.

 

The Sowerby's beaked whale usually has scars all over its body either from narrowly surviving shark attacks  or dueling with other males for a female mate. Their highly exaggerated long nose and jaws are good for catching and devouring fish of all sizes. Most of their teeth are non-funtional(noticable the most in females)and hidden up in the gums. The teeth in the top jaw are the most unused but they are still there.  These animals definetly don't have the best teeth to defend themselves against shark attacks.

 

Staying mostly in northern waters, these whales have too much blubber to keep cool around the equator. Based on data collected from strandings, Sowerby's beaked whale, Mesoplodon bidens, is found in temperate and subartic waters in the eastern and western North Atlantic. The eastern population has been seen around Britain and Norway. The western population has been seen mainly in Newfoundland, Canada, and Massachusetts. Little is known about the migratory patterns of this species.

 

The species has been hunted infrequently by Norwegians. But such practices have long since been abandoned. There are some deaths due to entanglement in fishing gear, but it is unlikely to be very damaging to the species. Since then they have only been watched and studied little is known about the speices. These are very undiscovered creatures and I hope that the studies continue and that maybe I could take part in one of those some day.

Author: Sage W

Published: 02/2012

Sources:

http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=334
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoplodon_bidens

Mammals of the Oceans/By Richard Mark Martin/pg.48

Photo Credit:

Phil Coles //www.beakedwhaleresource.com/bwsowerbys.htm