Cuvier's Beaked Whale

Name: Cuvier’s Beaked Whale
Family: Ziphidae
Scientific Name: Ziphius cavirostris
Length: 15-23 ft (4.5-7 m)
Weight: 4,000-6,800 lbs (1,845-3,090 kg)

Adult Length: 5-7 m (16 - 23 ft)
Coloration: Grey-brown to brick-red
Blow: Bushy, slightly angled forward, sometimes visible
Breaching: Leaps almost vertically
Group size: 1-8

Category: Mammals
Number of Species: 32
Endemic Species: 6

In total, 32 indigenous species of mammals have been recorded in Galapagos in recent times. This excludes domesticated species which have become feral (dogs, cats, pigs, goats, donkeys, horses and cattle) and introduced rodents (rats and mice). Six species are endemic to the archipelago, four of which are confined to single Islands. The greater majority of the species recorded, 25 in total, are cetaceans (whales and dolphins). The mammals that occur in Galapagos can be divided into 4 types.

Occasionally seen offshore.

Identification:
Larger and more robust than the beaked whales of the genus Mesoplodon. The body is somewhat sausage-shaped as it rolls slowly at the surface, revealing a small, triangular or falcate dorsal fin situated forward, sometimes visible two-thirds of the way along the back. The head shape is distinctive, the forehead sloping gently down to a short beak, described by some as being like that of a goose. In mature males, two small teeth protrude from the tip of the lower jaw. The head and upper back of adults often becomes pale cream in color.