Family Ziphiidae (Beaked Whales)

IDENTIFICATION
The North Pacific Bottle-nosed Whale (also known as Baird's Beaked Whale) is slate-grey, usually with whitish blotches on the belly and many light scratches on the back and flanks. It has a well-defined forehead rising abruptly from the beak, and the snout is long. The small, triangular dorsal fin is located on the last third of the back. This whale may grow as long as 12.8 metres; the male is slightly shorter than the female.

MEALS, MANNERS AND MIGRATION
North Pacific Bottle-nosed Whales mate in February and give birth around December, after a gestation period of about 10 months. They travel in pods of 10 to 20, surfacing and diving in unison; they are alert and difficult to capture. North Pacific Bottle-nosed Whales feed on squid, octopus, rockfish and herring.

STATUS
In 1992, COSEWIC designated the North Pacific Bottle-nosed Whale as not at risk. Very few of these whales were killed by commercial whalers and there are no known threats to this species in British Columbia waters, so no conservation effort seems to be required.

DISTRIBUTION
Restricted to the cool, deep waters of the North Pacific north of 23°N latitude where this species usually inhabits waters deeper than 1,000 m. Seasonal movements are not well understood, but there is some evidence suggesting that this whale migrates north in summer.