Cuvier's Beaked Whale

Ziphius cavirostris

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cetartiodactyla
Family: Ziphiidae
Genus: Ziphius
Species: Ziphius cavirostris

Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) is a robust beaked whale about 6 to 7 m long with a short beak and a gently sloping forehead that gives it a goose-like profile. Its colour ranges from grey to reddish-brown, and adult males are often pale-headed and covered in long white scars.

It holds records among mammals for dive depth and duration, reaching nearly 3,000 m and staying under for more than two hours while hunting deep-sea squid and fish. Groups are small and surface quietly between dives.

In the Philippines Cuvier's beaked whale is known from strandings and occasional sightings over deep water, and it is the most widely reported beaked whale in the country. It is very sensitive to loud underwater noise.

Photo: Lucas Benaiche, CC BY-SA 4.0, via iNaturalist