|
| Distribution |
Assumed to occur off the entire NC coast from VA to SC, though there are stranding records for just four of the eight coastal counties.
Occurs worldwide in oceanic waters. Occurs in the Atlantic from the Maritimes well south into the West Indies, and into the Gulf of Mexico. |
| Abundance |
Apparently rare, and very seldom identified on trips offshore. As of 1995, there had been nine strandings in NC (Webster et al., 1995). The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History mammal collections (2021) lists 18 stranding records for NC. |
| Seasonal Occurrence |
The strandings (through 1995) are for January, February, March, June, and July. The NMNH strandings are from January through March, and June through September, plus one in November -- suggesting that the species might well be present all year off our coast, despite no known records for several months of the year. |
| Habitat |
Generally well offshore, probably in deeper water such as beyond the Continental Shelf. |
| Behavior |
|
| Comments |
The Blainville's can be identified by the highly arched jaw. Unfortunately, most of the Mesoplodons observed at sea do not give a good enough view for observers to be certain of identification; most are left as "Mesoplodon sp.". The IUCN considers the Blainville's Beaked Whale as Data Deficient, as it does for nearly all Mesoplodon species around the globe. |
| Origin |
Native |
| NC List |
Official |
 State Rank |
S2M |
| State Status |
|
| Global Rank |
G4 |
| Federal Status |
|
| subspecies |
|
| other_comName |
Dense-beaked Whale |
| synonym |
|
