Rare Arnoux’s beaked whales in Antarctica


This video says about itself:

Arnoux’s Beaked Whales performing in the Hauraki Gulf New Zealand 28/01/2012, Tiritiri Matangi Island in the distance.

From the BBC:

Rare whale gathering sighted

By Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News

A large group of a rarely sighted, mysterious species of whale has been seen off the coast of Antarctica.

Approximately 60 Arnoux’s beaked whales were seen and photographed frolicking on the surface in the Gerlache Strait.

Few sighting of this enigmatic species are made in the wild, and even less in waters near to shore.

The sighting, of the largest group ever recorded, is also the first time this species of whale has been seen socialising at the water surface.

Marine biologists have published details of the sighting in the journal Marine Mammal Science. …

Around 20 species belong to the family Ziphiidae, with several only having been discovered in the past couple of decades.

Typically, beaked whales are deep divers, and they are the only whales to have tusks, which are teeth that erupt from the lower jaws of the males.

Together with its close relative, the Baird’s beaked whale (Berardius bairdii), the Arnoux’s beaked whale (Berardius arnuxii) is among the two largest of all beaked whale species. …

On 5 May this year, a team of Duke University researchers including Dr Friedlaender sighted approximately 60 Arnoux’s beaked whales near the entrance to the Schollaert Channel between Brabant and Cuverville Islands, which lie in the Gerlache Strait, Antarctica.

“What made the sighting atypical and noteworthy was the size of the group of animals and their surface activity,” says Dr Friedlaender.

Huge 130 km long deepwater gillnet confiscated in Antarctic: here.

We thought it was one of the Earth’s last remaining regions of stable ice. Now it seems the East Antarctic ice sheet has been losing mass since 2006 and could become a significant source of sea level rise, according to data from gravity-measuring satellites: here.

1 thought on “Rare Arnoux’s beaked whales in Antarctica

  1. Pingback: Beaked whale beaches in Dutch Zeeland | Dear Kitty. Some blog

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