Brennan, Bernard

Marshall, Kim

Palacios, Daniel M.

Rodriguez, Patricia

English

Aquatic Commons

November 1994 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS 29
and the prolonged silence of the sperm whales, differ
from anything that has been observed in Galápagos
during the past years'work on board the Odyssey.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like express their appreciation
to the scientific team aboard RN Odyssey: Captain
Iain Kerr, Daniel Palacios, Erland Lettevall, Christo-
pher Rogers, David Day, and Robert Wallace. Ana
Lucia Benitez, James Prentice and Kirsten Anthon
also helped with data collection. The Servicio Parque
Nacional Galápagos, the Charles Darwin Research
Station and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Defense ap-
proved and supported the scientific work of R/V
The Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris)
is a poorly known member of the cetaceans found in
Galápagos. During research cruises aboard the R/V
Odyssey in1993 and1994 we only saw this species
about 15 times during 13 months. However, we were
lucky to find a dead individual which prompted the
writing of this note. Our observations on this individ-
ual follow a brief description of Cuvier's beaked
whales paraphrased from Leatherwood et al. s ( 1 9 8 8)
identification guide to whales.
The Cuvier's beaked whale, or goose beaked
whale, belongs to aninteresting anddiverse, butpoorly
known, group of odontocete cetaceans, the family
Ziphlidae. Most of what is known about this group
comes from individuals stranded on shore. Since
Ziphiids tend to be shy and relatively inconspicuous
at the surface, they are infrequently seen at sea.
Cuvier's beaked whales grow to about 7 m, be-
coming sexually mature at about 5.4 m. Length at
birth is 2to3 m. The head is relatively small and the
Odyssey. TAME provided reduced airfare between
Galápagos and continental Ecuador.
LITERATURE CITED
Arnbom, T., V. Papastavrou, L. Weilgart and H.
Whitehead. 1987. Sperm whales react to an at-
tack by killer whales. Journal of Mammalogy.
68(2):450-453.
Day, D. 1994. Ltst of cetaceans seen in Galápagos.
Noticias de Galápagos 53, Aprll1994.
Bernard Brennan and Patricia Rodriguez, Whale
Conservation Institute, 191 Weston Road, Lincoln,
MA 01773, USA.
beak is short and poorly demarcated. The profile of
the head and jaw appears similar to a goose's beak. A
single pair of conical teeth is located under the gum,
at the tip of the lower jaw. These teeth emerge only
in males and visibly protrude from the closed mouth.
The throat has two long, anteriorly convergent creas-
es. The dorsal fin, located well behind the central
dorsal region, tends to vary in size and shape. Unlike
in othercetaceans, the flukes of Cuvier's beakedwhale
are usually not divided by a distinct notch and their
trailing edge is somewhat concave.
Coloration appears to be related to both age and
sex. Calves and juveniles are tan or light brown. As
they age, they becomes marred with scratches and
white or cream-colored oval blotches, especially on
the abdomen. In older animals the head becomes
distinctively lighter than the rest of the body. Old
males may appear all white.
Cuvier's beaked whales are probably deep divers
since they prey mostly on squid and deepwater fish.
NOTES ON THE CUVIER'S BEAKED WHALE (ZIPHIUS
cAvrRosrRls), wrrH OBSERVATIONS OF A DEAD SPBCIMEN
By: Daniel M. Palacios, Patricia Rodriguez,
Bernard Brennan and Kim Marshall
30 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS No.54
Occasionally groups of individuals will surface un-
expectedly neaÍ a vessel and seem startled by its
presence. After a series of respirations between shal-
low dives, the pod will sound, disappear below the
waves and not be seen again.
This species appears to be ayear-round inhabitant
of at least portion of its geographic range in the east-
ern North Pacific. It is known to occur in the
Galápagos Archipelago (Leatherwood et al., 1988;
D ay, 199 4), where it was first reporte d tn 791 5 (Mac-
Farland, 1911). However, it is rarely seen perhaps
because its preferred habitat, deep off-shore water, is
not often visited by local boats.
In 1983 six live animals were stranded on Baltra
Island (Robinson et al., 1983). Two of these animals
died, and their skulls were placed in the Charles
Darwin Research Station museum reference collec-
tion. Over the years, local residents of the islands
have found additional remnants of at least four dead
animals washed up on beaches (D.M. Palacios, un-
published data). These observations suggest that
Cuvier's beaked whales may be more common in
Galápagos waters than previously thought.
OBSERVATIONS OF A DEAD SPECIMEN
It is rare to find corpses of whales. As aquatic
animals their bodies decompose rapidly, sink to the
ocean floor or are eaten by scavengers soon after
death. Occasionally bodies are washed ashore but
they are usually in poor condition to study.
On 4 March 1994, ùntng a research cruise aboard
ihe R/V Od¡'ssey, we found a recently dead Cuvier's
beaked whale floating in the open sea. We encoun-
tered the whale approximately 28 miles V/NV/ of
Cabo B erkeley, Isabela Island (0' 1 0 .7' N ; 92" 02. 0' V/),
while watching a pod of 10 to 15 killer whales (Or-
cinus orca). After retrieving the body, we organized
a complete necropsy using standardized protocols
fordissecting small cetaceans (e.g. Hohn et al. 1986).
The carcass was affixed to the side of the vessel while
two of us collected samples of various tissues.
The specimen was ayoung female,4.2minlength.
Her ovaries were visually inspected for the presence
of corpus albicans (scars from previous ovulations
which indicate sexual maturity), but none were ob-
served. From the small body size and absence of
corpus albicans on the ovaries we concluded that this
was an immature animal.
The stomach was full and contained mostly undi-
gested squid beaks and shrimp exoskeletons. These
prey items remain to be identified to species.
Approximately 40 sessile barnacles, probably
Xenobalanus globicipitis,were attached to the trail-
ing edge of the flukes. These barnacles form a
relationship with cetaceans known as phoresia, i.e.
the carrying of one organism by another without
parasitism. This relationship has been recorded on at
least 19 species of cetaceans, including the Cuvier's
beaked whale, from temperate, wam-temperate, and
tropical waters (Rajaguru and Shanta,1992).
An impressive 56 cm long wound, severing two
ribs, was found on the right side of the animal. Par-
allel teeth rakes emanated from the wound and
extended 1 m posteriorly. These wounds appear to
have been caused by killer whales. Killer whales
have been observed feeding on fur seals (Trillmich,
1 9 87), sperm whales (Arnbom et al., 19 87 ), dolphins,
andBryde's whales (see Report of Two OrcaAttacks
on Large Cetaceans in the Galápagos Islands, this
issue) in Galápagos. It is likely that this Cuvier's
beaked whale was the victim of one of such attack,
perhaps by the pod of killer whales that we had orig-
inally been observing.
Interestingly, Robinson et al. (1983) suggests that
the pod of Cuvier's beaked whales that was stranded
on B altra in 1 9 83 may have entered the shallow w aters
of the port while trying to escape from killer whales.
One of the two animals that died, alarge male, had
sessile barnacles attached to the teeth on the lower
jaw. Since X. globiciplrls has only been found at-
tached to skin (Rajaguru and Shanta, 1992), these
barnacles may have been a different species, proba-
bly Conchoderma auritum.
LITERATURE CITED
Arnbom, T.;V. Papastavrou;L. Weilgart andH. White-
head. 1 9 87. Sperm whales react to an attack by killer
whales. Joumal of Mammalogy 68(2): 450-453.
Day, D. 1994. List of cetaceans seen in Galápagos.
Noticias de Galápagos 53.
November 1994 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS 31
Hohn, A.A.; H. Bernard and R. Miller. 1986. Méto-
dos de recolección y análisis de muestras del ciclo
biológico de los delfines. Memorias de la XI Re-
unión Internacional sobre mamíferos marinos, 3-6
de Abril, 1986. Guaymas, Sonora, México.
Leatherwood, S.; R. Reeves; W.F. Perrin and W.E.
Evans. 1988. Whales, dolphins andporpoises of
the eastern North Pacific and adjacent arctic wa-
ters. A guide to their identification. Dover
publications Inc. New York. 256pp.
MacFarland,J. l9ll. Whales in Galápagos: Aper-
sonal viewpoint. Noticias de Galáp agos26:19-21 .
Rajaguru, A. and G. Shanta. 1992. Association be-
tween the sessile barnacle Xenobalanus
globicipitis (Coronulidae) and the bottlenose dol-
phin Tursiops truncatus (Delphinidae) from the
Bay of Bengal, India, with a summary of previous
records from cetaceans. Fishery Bulletin
90(1):t97-202.
Robinson, G., F. Koster and J. Villa. 1983. Stlanding
of Cuvier's beaked whales on Baltra. Noticias de
Galápagos 38:16-ll.
Trillmich, F. 1987. Galápagos fur seal, Arctoceph-
alus g alap a g o ens i s . Pp. 23 -27 in: J . P. Croxall and
R. L Gentry (eds.). Status, biology, and ecology
of fur seals. Proceedings of an International Sym-
posium and Workshop. Cambridge, England,
23 -27 Aprll 1 984. NoAATechnical Report NMFS
51.
Daniel Palacios, Patricia Rodriguez, Bernard
Brennan and Kim Marshall, Whale Conservation
Institute, 191 Weston Road, Lincoln, NIL, 017 7 3,
USA.
BooKREvIEw'rfi ttäiii"Tt*àì"fi.îrî"t#Tt"äEHIST.RY
Authored By: Lillian Otterman
Reviewed by: John Woram
fPublication details: McGuinn & McGuire Pub-
lishing Inc., P.O. Box 20603 Bradenton, Florida
34203. $16.95 per copy plus $2.00 shipping for the
first copy, $0.50 for each additional copy.l
It seems that every book on Galápagos flora and
fauna begins with an obligatory historical chapter, in
which the adventures of every visitor since Tomas de
Berlanga are recounted. Such accounts are often brief,
since the author's expertise lies elsewhere, usually in
natural rather than human history. It is no bad thing
for such introductory chapters to end quickly, for the
author cannot do justice to the enchanting human
history of the islands in one chapter. Thus, the history
of human occupation in Galápagos rarely gets the
serious attention it deserves.
Does Lillian Otterman's book 'Clinker Islands: A
Complete History of the Galápagos Archipelago' fi-
nally put matters right? Her publisher describes the
book as "The most complete single-volume history
of the Galápagos Islands ever written", and the au-
thor has clearly done her homework. The last half of
the book is the best, with a complete timetable of ship
traffic in Galápagos from the days of Allan Hancock
and Velero III to the visit of Irving Johnson's Yankee
in 1964. Although this edition of 'Clinker Islands'
was published in late 1993, it only covers the history
of Galápagos up until her own visit to the islands in
December, 1964. Other than a few brief paragraphs
on the status of Galápagos tourism in 1915, the past
30 years are neglected. We learn of the mysterious
disappearance of Sarah fsic, actually Saydee] Reiser
early in 1964,btttnot of the discovery of her remains
some fifteen years later.


Notes on the Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris),

with observations of a dead specimen

http://aquaticcommons.org/6593/1/NG_54_1994_Palacios_et_al_Cuviers_Beaked_whale.pdf

Notes on the Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), with observations of a dead specimen

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