erate in distribution.
They have been reported from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia south as
far as Flagler Beach in Florida. Northernmost records are for summer
months.

The range of True's beaked whales overlaps with that of the Antillean
beaked whale but is more northerly.

Stranded Specimens

The teeth of adult male True's beaked whales may be visible near the tip
of the lower jaw, a characteristic shared with the goosebeaked whale (p.
70) and the northern bottlenosed whale (p. 67). Both these other species
reach substantially greater maximum lengths than True's beaked whales,
however, and should be readily distinguishable by this and the number of
other highly distinctive characteristics of each species.

Females and subadult males may be confused with any of the beaked whales
species (p. 74 and Fig. 78).

[Illustration: Figure 79.--Two views of the body of a stranded True's
beaked whale from northeastern Florida. This species reaches at least 16
feet (4.9 m) and closely resembles the goosebeaked whale in general body
shape. It is distributed in temperate waters from Nova Scotia to
Florida. (_Photos courtesy of Marineland of Florida._)]

[Illustration: Figure 80.--The head of a True's beaked whale stranded in
North Carolina. Note the small head, the pronounced beak, and the
position of the blowhole in the indentation behind the forehead. The
teeth, visible above the gums only in adult males, are in the position
indicated by the arrow. The photo on the right shows the two V-shaped
throat grooves characteristic of beaked whales. (_Photos from U.S.
National Museum, courtesy of J. G. Mead._)]

ANTILLEAN BEAKED WHALE (T)

_Mesoplodon europaeus_ (Gervais 1855)
(equals _M. gervaisi_ [Deslongchamps])

Other Common Names

Gulfstream beaked whale, Gervais' beaked whale.

Description

Antillean beaked whales reach a length of at least 22 feet (6.7 m). They
are slender in form and appear somewhat laterally compressed (i.e.,
taller than they are wide). The head is extremely small and tapers
rapidly to a narrow beak. The flippers are small (to about one-twelfth
the body length) with their origin well down on the sides of the body.
The dorsal fin is small, located behind the midpoint of the back, and
variable in shape from falcate to triangular. The flukes are less than
one-fifth the body length and are not notched.

Antillean beaked whales are dark grayish black on the back and sides,
slightly light