Hector's beaked whale
Mesoplodon hectori
Hector's beaked whale is so seldom seen alive that no sighting is ever a promise.
Data Deficient (IUCN, 2020) means there is not enough information to judge how at risk it is.
Length
About 4 m (13 ft) on average, with a maximum around 4.2 to 4.5 m (14 to 15 ft). Sources differ slightly. Calves are about 1.9 m (6 ft) at birth.
Weight
Estimated at about 800 kg to 1 tonne (1,800 to 2,200 lb). Very few animals have been weighed, so this is an estimate.
Next to a person
About as long as a small family car, and by estimate about as heavy.
What it eats
Squid and fish. Stomach analysis of one adult showed squid as the main food. It is thought to find prey with echolocation and take it by suction.
Around people
Calm, give space
How it lives
Hector's beaked whale is one of the smallest beaked whales. Adult males have two small, flat, triangular teeth near the tip of the lower jaw, and heavy pale scars that suggest fights between males. Females have no visible teeth. It has a small rounded dorsal fin and does not make an obvious blow. It appears to be mostly solitary, though pairs have been seen.
Where it goes
Little is known about how far it travels. It lives in cool temperate Southern Hemisphere waters between about 35 and 55 degrees south, with most records from New Zealand.
We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.
Populations
IUCN Data Deficient (2020), meaning there is too little information to judge its numbers or trend. No population estimate was given in the sources we opened. It is known from New Zealand, Tasmania, the Falkland Islands and South America. In Australia, one record is skull and jaw bones found at about 1,120 m deep in Hood Canyon, Bremer Marine Park, off the south-west coast, in 2020.
Meet it respectfully
This is a shy, deep-diving whale that is almost never seen alive. We never chase, approach closely or try to attract it. If one is ever seen, we keep distance, keep noise low and let it decide what happens.
Fun fact
Tap the bulb to light it up.
It is one of the smallest beaked whales, at about 4 m long.
Older records from the north, and data on juveniles and males, turned out to belong to a similar species, Perrin's beaked whale.
Whale bones of this species have been found on the seabed at about 1,120 m off south-west Australia, covered in animals that live on whale remains.
Hector's beaked whale in the Ocean Atlas
Places we have researched where this animal is recorded. It is never guaranteed, and some places are for watching from the boat only.
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AustraliaSources for this page
- IUCN Red List category via GBIF, assessed 2020 (Pitman and Brownell)
- Wikipedia, Hector's beaked whale (cites IUCN assessment, 2020)
- Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
- MarineBio Conservation Society
- Heliyon, 2024, whale fall in a south-west Australian submarine canyon
- CMS Pacific Islands Cetaceans, Mesoplodon hectori
- Society for Marine Mammalogy, list of marine mammal species
Facts checked 5 October 2026. Photos: Unsplash licence, or Creative Commons as shown on each photo.
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