New publication on Ginkgo-toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens)
Hi all,
I thought I’d share a link to a significant and exciting new paper.
Ginkgo-toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) is very poorly known, mostly from strandings. Only a few confirmed observations at sea as this species is difficult to distinguish from congeners. Its geographic range is not fully understood though most records come from the temperate and tropical Pacific Ocean.
Now a paper in Marine Mammal Science provides many new insights about this whale including photos (backed by genetic samples confirming ID), notes on field identification, description of behavior, details on geographic distribution and a good review of the species in general. It also describes the species’ acoustic signature which would now make this mega-rarity easier to find. Fascinating development.
E. Elizabeth Henderson (Online Version of Record before inclusion in an issue e70052. First published: 28 July 2025). First At-Sea Identifications of Ginkgo-Toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens): Acoustics, Genetics, and Biological Observations Off Baja California, Mexico
Abstract:
“In 2024, an expedition was conducted off northwestern Baja California, México, to find and identify the beaked whale species that produced the BW43 echolocation pulse previously recorded in this area and elsewhere in the North Pacific. There were five Mesoplodon sightings and 21 BW43 acoustic detections on both a towed array and drifting pole buoy recorders over the course of the survey. Three of the sightings had concurrent acoustic detections, and a biopsy sample and environmental DNA were also collected from one of the sightings. The genetic identification confirms that the Mesoplodon sighted and acoustically recorded was the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens), and the co-occurrence of these sightings with the BW43 acoustic detections definitively links the species and its echolocation pulse. This is the first time that genetically confirmed ginkgo-toothed beaked whales have been observed at sea and definitively linked to the BW43 pulse. This paper details the encounters, acoustic behavior, genetics, coloration, and external morphology of this species, including a comprehensive review of its distribution using historical sightings, strandings, and acoustic detection data from the North Pacific Ocean.”
Full article:
https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.70052
Best regards,
Eran Tomer
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Jon Hall
Thanks Eran. Fascinating indeed. Mammalwatching regulars Bob Pitman and Todd Pusser were on that trip in the Gulf of California last year and so I was salivating seeing the photos they were taking of those whales while they were out there … and before they could definitively ID them before they biopsy was analysed. So much still to discover.