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Shepherd's beaked whale
Size compared to an average human
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)
CITES Appendix II (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	Ziphiidae
Genus:	Tasmacetus Oliver, 1937
Species:	T. shepherdi
Binomial name
Tasmacetus shepherdi Oliver, 1937
Shepherd's beaked whale range

Shepherd's beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi), also commonly called Tasman's beaked whale or simply the Tasman whale, is a cetacean of the family Ziphiidae and the only species in the genus Tasmacetus. The whale has not been studied extensively. Only four confirmed at sea sightings have been made and 42 strandings recorded (as of 2006). It was first known to science in 1937, being named by W. R. B. Oliver after George Shepherd, curator of the Wanganui Museum, who collected the type specimen near Ohawe on the south Taranaki coast of New Zealand's North Island, in 1933.

Description

Adults can reach lengths of 6 metres (20 ft) to 7.1 metres (23 ft) and weigh about 2.32 to 3.48 tons. At birth they may be about 3 metres (9.8 ft) long.

They are robust and large-bodied for beaked whales, having a bluff melon and a long, dolphin-like beak.

It is the only species of ziphiid with a full set of functional teeth (17 to 27 pairs in both the upper and lower jaws). Adult males also have a pair of tusks at the tip of the lower jaw.

They are dark brown dorsally and cream-colored ventrally, with a pale band extending up from the flipper and another pale area extending as a swathe on the posterior flank. The tall, falcate dorsal fin is set about two-thirds the way along the back.

Population and distribution

Sightings and stranding records indicate that the species has a circumpolar distribution in southern hemisphere. No population estimates exist for Shepherd's beaked whale. As of 2006, there have been about 42 stranding records of the species from New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands, 24), Argentina (7), Tristan da Cunha (6), Australia (3), and the Juan Fernández Islands (2). The northernmost record was at Shark Bay in Western Australia in 2008. There have been five unconfirmed sightings (mostly from New Zealand), as well as a "probable" sighting near Shag Rocks and four confirmed sightings—the first two confirmed sightings occurred in 1985, within a few minutes of each other, off the Tristan da Cunha group (first sighting at 37°18′S 12°32′W / 37.300°S 12.533°W / -37.300; -12.533); the third in 2002 near Gough Island (40°19′S 9°53′W / 40.317°S 9.883°W / -40.317; -9.883); and the fourth in 2004 south of Tasmania (48°50′S 150°06′E / 48.833°S 150.100°E / -48.833; 150.100). In January 2012, a group of up to a dozen of this species were photographed and filmed by the Australian Antarctic Division south of Portland, Victoria.

Multiple sightings of the species have been reported from Otago submarine canyons off Otago coast, New Zealand. Sightings have been recorded throughout the year with vocalization recordings, suggesting regular presences there. These include at least two sightings in 2016 which were the first confirmed sightings within New Zealand waters, followed by four sightings in 2017, one or more sighting(s) in 2018, one sighting in 2019, four or five sightings in 2021, five sightings in 2022 including a pod of 15-20 animals.

There have been additional sightings from other parts of New Zealand, such as off Gisborne, several sightings off Kaikōura, off Fiordland, Taranaki, and so on.

Behaviour

Four of the confirmed sightings of this species involved three to six individuals (one group included a calf) in waters from 350 metres (1,150 ft) to 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) deep, while a 2012 sighting involved as many as ten to twelve individuals. The animals surfaced several times, before arching to dive. Some were observed to come to the surface at a steep angle like many other ziphiids, raising their head and beaks out of the water. The Shepherd's beaked whale's blow could be observed with the naked eye at a distance of up to 1,000 metres, within a bushy plume that is relatively tall for a ziphiid varying from 1 to 2 metres in height

The species is seldom seen because of its deep, offshore distribution in waters where sighting conditions can be difficult (the "Roaring Forties" and "Furious Fifties").

Research done on a stranded individual's stomach has indicated that Shepherd's beaked whales eat both fish and squid, as opposed to most beaked whales which only eat cephalopods.

Conservation

There are no reports of this species being hunted or killed accidentally by humans. Shepherd's beaked whale is covered by the Memorandum of Understanding for the Conservation of Cetaceans and Their Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region (Pacific Cetaceans MOU).

Taxonomy

Recent molecular evidence suggests that this species diverged after the most basal extant ziphiid genus, Berardius, and prior to Ziphius

Popular culture

The species was featured on a 45p commemorative stamp issued by Tristan da Cunha in 2019 as part of a set celebrating different species of whale.

See also

• List of cetaceans

References

1. Braulik, G. (2018). "Tasmacetus shepherdi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T21500A50377701. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T21500A50377701.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
2. "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
3. Te Ara Encyclopedia - Beaked whales – George Shepherd
4. ^ Reeves, R.; Stewart, B.; Clapham, P. & Powell, J. (2003). Guide to Marine Mammals of the World. New York: A.A. Knopf. pp. 318–321. ISBN 0-375-41141-0.
5. ^ Shirihai, H. & Jarrett, B. (2006). Whales, Dolphins and Other Marine Mammals of the World. Princeton Field Guides. pp. 43–45. ISBN 0-691-12757-3. OCLC 73174536.
6. Jared R. Towers, Paul Tixier, 2022, Indian Ocean Sighting of Shepherd’s Beaked Whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi) Helps Confirm Circumpolar Distribution in Southern Hemisphere, Aquatic Mammals, 48(5), pp.462-467
7. Carly Holyoake, Dave Holley, Peter B. S. Spencer, Chandra Salgado Kent, Doug Coughran, Lars Bejder, 2013, Northernmost record of Shepherd's beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi) - A morphological and genetic description from a stranding from Shark Bay, Western Australia, Pacific Conservation Biology, 19 (2), pp.169-174, DOI:10.1071/PC130169
8. ^ Pitman R.L., van Helden A.L., Best P.B., Pym A. (2006). "Shepherd's beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi): information on appearance and biology based on strandings and at-sea observations". Mar. Mammal Sci. 22 (3): 744–755. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00066.x.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
9. Australian Antarctic Program, 2012, Whale trackers make rare sighting, Australian Antarctic Division, Retrieved on August 07, 2022
10. ^ Hamish MacLean, 2022, Rare whales seen, vocalisation recorded, The Otago Daily Times, Retrieved on February 24, 2022
11. John Gibb, 2016, Sighting of beaked whale a first, Otago Daily Times, Retrieved on August 07, 2022
12. Vaughan Elder, 2017, Population of whales off Dunedin coast significant, study finds, The Otago Daily Times, Retrieved on September 02, 2021
13. New Zealand Whale and Dolphin Trust, 2017, December 14th, 2017 on Facebook, Retrieved on September 13, 2022
14. Steve Wood, 2018, Otago Canyon Pelagic - Sept 29th., BirdingNZ, Retrieved on August 07, 2022
15. New Zealand Whale and Dolphin Trust, 2019, June 29th, 2019 on Facebook, Retrieved on September 13, 2022
16. David Donnelly, Marine Research, 2019, November 30th, 2019 on Facebook, Retrieved on September 13, 2022
17. oscarkokako, 2021, Shepherd's beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi), iNaturalist, Retrieved on August 07, 2022
18. Oscar Thomas, 2021, Moeraki Pelagics to Otago Canyons / Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th July 2021, BirdingNZ, Retrieved on August 07, 2022
19. Project Jonah New Zealand, 2021, October 31st, 2021 on Instagram, Retrieved on September 13, 2022
20. Warwick Allen, Bobby Phuong, 2021, October 21, 2021 on Instagram, Retrieved on September 13, 2022
21. Peter Langlands, 2021, December 30th, 2021 on Facebook, Retrieved on September 13, 2022
22. adamduchac, 2022, Shepherd's beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi), iNaturalist, Retrieved on August 07, 2022
23. Annie Ching, 2022, January 13th, 2022 on Facebook, Retrieved on September 13, 2022
24. Oscar Thomas, 2022, Moeraki Pelagics Nov 12/13 Report, BirdingNZ, Retrieved on November 15, 2022
25. Gisborne Herald, 2019, Pod of rare whales filmed off Gisborne, Retrieved on August 07, 2022
26. The New Zealand Herald, 2017, Rare Shepherd's beaked whales spotted off Kaikoura coast, Retrieved on August 07, 2022
27. Whale Watch Kaikoura, 2018, The Rarest of the World's Whales - Spotted Twice whilst Whale Watching, Retrieved on August 07, 2022
28. Alan Granville, 2019, 'Extraordinary': Exceptionally rare whale visits Kaikōura, Stuff, Retrieved on August 07, 2022
29. hannahwilllliams, 2022, Shepherd's beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi), iNaturalist, Retrieved on August 07, 2022
30. Saltwater iv, 2017, Very Rare Shepherd's Beaked Whale - Tasmacetus shepherdi _ Taranaki New Zealand on Youtube, Retrieved on September 13, 2022
31. Donnelly, David M.; Ensor, Paul; Gill, Peter; Clarke, Rohan H.; Evans, Karen; Double, Michael C.; Webster, Trudi; Rayment, Will; Schmitt, Natalie T. (July 2018). "New diagnostic descriptions and distribution information for Shepherd's beaked whale ( Tasmacetus shepherdi ) off Southern Australia and New Zealand: DESCRIPTIONS AND DISTRIBUTION FOR T. SHEPHERDI". Marine Mammal Science. 34 (3): 829–840. doi:10.1111/mms.12478.
32. Best, P.B.; Smale, M.J.; Glass, J.; Herian, K.; Von Der Heyden, S. (2014). "Identification of stomach contents from a Shepherd's beaked whale Tasmacetus shepherdi stranded on Tristan da Cunha, South Atlantic". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 94 (6): 1093–1097. doi:10.1017/s0025315412001658. hdl:2263/42919. S2CID 55181638.
33. Official webpage of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Conservation of Cetaceans and Their Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region
34. McGowen, Michael R; Tsagkogeorga, Georgia; Álvarez-Carretero, Sandra; dos Reis, Mario; Struebig, Monika; Deaville, Robert; Jepson, Paul D; Jarman, Simon; Polanowski, Andrea; Morin, Phillip A; Rossiter, Stephen J (1 May 2020). "Phylogenomic Resolution of the Cetacean Tree of Life Using Target Sequence Capture". Systematic Biology. 69 (3): 479–501. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syz068.
35. "Amazing whales of Tristan da Cunha". Stamp Magazine. Vol. 85, no. 4. My Time Media. April 2019. p. 10. ISSN 0307-6679.

Sources

1. Shepherd's beaked whale in the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals Thomas A. Jefferson, 1998. ISBN 0-12-551340-2
2. Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises Carwardine, 1995. ISBN 0-7513-2781-6

• Cetaceans
• Mammals
• Marine Life
• Animals
• Biology

• IUCN Red List data deficient species
• Cetaceans of the Pacific Ocean
• Mammals of Argentina
• Mammals of Chile
• Ziphiids
• Mammals described in 1937