d whale (p. 82). When they can be examined at close
range, however, northern bottlenosed whales should be distinguishable on
the basis of the distinctly bulbous forehead.

Distribution

In the western North Atlantic, northern bottlenosed whales are
restricted to Arctic and north temperate waters, where they most
commonly occur in offshore areas. They have been reported from Davis
Straits and the entrance to Hudson Strait, the Gully southeast of Sable
Island, and as far south as Narragansett Bay, R.I.

In the spring and summer they concentrate near the northern limits of
their range, occasionally visiting deep channels of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence and eastern Newfoundland in summer. During these seasons they
may extend to the edge of the pack ice.

In the fall and winter the bulk of the population migrates southward.
Many probably winter in the Labrador Sea while others move farther
southward and farther offshore.

Stranded Specimens

Like the beaked whales discussed on p. 70 through 83, the northern
bottlenosed whales have no notch in the tail flukes, have two throat
grooves forming a V-shape on the chin, and have only two teeth in the
lower jaw, with those teeth emerged from the gums only in adult males.
These teeth may have sometimes fallen out of older males, but the tooth
sockets should still be visible in the gums.

NOTE: Some specimens--both male and female--will be found to have a
series of vestigial teeth the size of toothpicks in the upper and/or
lower jaws. Similar vestigial teeth, 5-40 in number, sometimes occur in
goosebeaked whales (p. 70). Further when they are prepared for museum
collections, the lower jaws of adult northern bottlenosed whales may be
found to contain a second pair of teeth just behind the first.

Northern bottlenosed whales may be distinguished from the remainder of
the beaked whale family, however, by the extremely robust body, by the
bulbous forehead, which is more extensively developed in larger animals,
particularly males, and by the pronounced dolphinlike beak.

[Illustration: Figure 67.--Northern bottlenosed whales at sea off Nova
Scotia. Note the prominent dorsal fin and the blotches of grayish-white
coloration on the body. Northern bottlenosed whales reach 32 feet (9.8
m) in overall length. (_Photo by H. E. Winn._)]

[Illustration: Figure 68.--Views of the heads of male northern
bottlenosed whales off Nova Scotia. Note the distinctive beak (right)
and the bulbous fo