Behavior and Ecology of Not-So-Social Odontocetes: Cuvier’s and Blainville’s Beaked Whales

Abstract

Studies of the ethology and behavioral ecology of beaked whales (members of the family Ziphiidae) have lagged behind many other groups of cetaceans. The family Ziphiidae is the second-most speciose (after delphinids) taxonomic family of cetaceans, yet the poorest-known overall. There are 22 recognized species of beaked whales from six genera, as of 2018, and of those, six species (all from the genus Mesoplodon, with 15 recognized species) are known only from beach-cast specimens or skeletal remains. Such levels of obscurity reflect a combination of deep-water (usually open-ocean) habits, generally low abundance (at least for most species; Bradford et al.