Blainville’s Beaked Whale
Scientific Name : Mesoplodon densirostris
- IUCN: Not Endangered/ Least Concern
- Other names: Dense-beaked whale
- Swahili name: Nyangumi ndomo Blainville
- Length: 4-4.7m
- Weight: 800-1,000kg
- Life expectancy: Unknown
- Abundance: Temperate to tropical waters worldwide
- Occurance: Year-round; a single dead stranding in Kenya
- Primary prey: Squid and deepwater fish
- Conservation status: Unknown
- Quick key identification: Wide, flattened head and highly arched lower jaws (teeth erupt in mature males), small triangular dorsal fin. Brownish grey in colour with males very scarred. Paired V-shaped throat grooves. Tusks often covered with stalked barnacles.
Mature males can be easily distinguished from females and juveniles by a pair of large, visible, tusk-like teeth that erupt and point forward from their heavily arched lower jaw. These tusk-like teeth are sometimes covered with barnacles.
