Beaked Whale - Historical

RatioTile

RatioTile

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
On Zootierliste it says that the Dolfinarium Harderwijk once held a Sowerby's beaked whale. ZootierlisteHomepage

When did it have it, for how long, and are there any pictures floating around the internet? Very little is known about beaked whales, so I'm sure this was an educational experience.
 
RatioTile said:
On Zootierliste it says that the Dolfinarium Harderwijk once held a Sowerby's beaked whale. ZootierlisteHomepage

When did it have it, for how long, and are there any pictures floating around the internet? Very little is known about beaked whales, so I'm sure this was an educational experience.
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This was a stranded female estimated to have been under a year old which was rescued on the Belgian coastline and taken to Boudewijn Seapark for preliminary rehabilitation on 9th October 1972, and then transferred to Dolfinarium Harderwijk on 10th October 1972 where it died two days later.

Interestingly, this record is omitted from the excellent Longevity of Mammals in Captivity: From the Living Collections of the World (Weigl 2005), which does not list any captive records for this species.
 
RatioTile said:
Eh, that barely counts as having it.
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Perhaps, but the book in question is comprehensive enough to even count captive lifespan records as low as a few hours :P

Since you are interested in the captive records of beaked whales, the following are the listings which *are* mentioned within that book:

Hubbs' Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon carlhubbsi) - 25 days in 1989 (collection and specific days not specified)

Blainville's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) - 3 days in 1969 (collection and specific days not specified)

Gervais' Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon europaeus) - 19 days in 1983 (collection and specific days not mentioned)

Gervais' Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon europaeus) - stranded on Reddington Pier, Clearwater, Florida on 13 October 1988 and died at Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida on 23 October 1988.

Gingko-toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) - 6 hours in 1982 (collection and specific day not mentioned)

Cuvier's Beaked Whale (Ziphius cavirostris) - arrived at Marineland of the Pacific Oceanarium, Palo Verdes on 21 Feb 1956 and died on 22 Feb 1956.
 
On a similar note, has any ZooChatter ever seen a live beaked whale on the open sea?
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Hubbs' Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon carlhubbsi) - 25 days in 1989 (collection and specific days not specified)
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Marine World Africa USA, two animals were stranded at Ocean Beach, California, on 24 August; one died after sixteen days and the second after twenty-five days.
https://web.northeastern.edu/spence...ss-1992-mesoplodon-bioacoustics-all-pages.pdf

TeaLovingDave said:
Blainville's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) - 3 days in 1969 (collection and specific days not specified)
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I think this might be an error for the one kept at Marineland of Florida in 1969 (stranded at Crescent Beach), which only lived for 24 hours.

TeaLovingDave said:
Gingko-toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens) - 6 hours in 1982 (collection and specific day not mentioned)
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This one was in Japan on 3rd August 1982 - it is in the IUCN's "Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales of the World" with a reference but it says there is no further information. It also mentions another animal on 16th March 1984 which seems to have been taken to the Hiyoriyama Aquarium, but again with no further details known.
 
RatioTile said:
On a similar note, has any ZooChatter ever seen a live beaked whale on the open sea?
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Yep :p I was quite young and don't recall it terribly well, but it was probably Cuvier's and I saw it in July/Aug 1999 between Skye and the Small Isles.
 
This low survival is not surprising, given that whales are usually stranded because they are already dying (no longer able to swim against the waves).
 
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