Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Stranding In Titahi Bay

A whale from one of the least known marine mammal families was found early yesterday morning, beached at the southern end of Titahi Bay near Porirua, Wellington.
It appeared to be a 5-7m Cuvier's Beaked Whale, part of a family of beaked whales that dive to at least 300m to hunt squid. This one had scars caused by bites from "cookie-cutter" sharks, but these marks were common and unlikely to have caused fatal injuries.
Beaked whales are unusual in that they have very reduced teeth, whereas their close relatives such as sperm whales and dolphins generally have multiple teeth. Beaked whales can suck in their food without need of teeth - rather like we can suck in spaghetti.
Cuvier's beaked whales are wellknown from strandings around NZ and are found in most of the world's oceans. But the chances of actually seeing any of the 11 beaked whale species known to inhabit our waters is slight - in some cases, they're only known to exist due to their bodies washing up.
It's unclear if this particular whale had stranded or had died and was then washed up on the beach: an autopsy will hopefully confirm the cause of death.
This is not the first whale to die on Titahi Bay. In the 1950s, a large sperm whale washed up in the area.


Robyn Smith said...

I came across the whale at around 6.30am. It was very freshly dead ie no smell, and wasn't bloated. I thought it was a blotchy old pilot whale which was not a bad guess considering I have never heard of Cuvier's beaked whale. It was a real privilege to see this creature. I rang DOC, Ngati Toa and the Dompost.

Writer Of The Purple Sage said...

Thanks for that, Robyn.
Not the nicest of things to find on your "morning constitutional"!!!