Shepherd's beaked whale

How it lives

Shepherd's beaked whales travel in small groups of about 2 to 14. They are deep divers, making dives of about 5 to 15 minutes to depths below 500 m (1,640 ft). Surface intervals last about 4 to 17 minutes. Nearly all knowledge comes from strandings, mainly in New Zealand and the Chatham Islands.

Where it goes

Shepherd's beaked whale is found in cool temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere, around New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Tristan da Cunha and the Juan Fernandez Islands. It was long thought to range between about 33 and 50 degrees south, but a 2024 stranding at Exmouth, Western Australia, at about 21 degrees 48 minutes south, extended the known range northward. No movement or migration pattern is described.

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

Southern Hemisphere, all around the pole in cool temperate waters. There are no population estimates. The IUCN lists it as Data Deficient (2018), which means there is too little information to judge its risk. It is on CITES Appendix II. Plastic debris and longline hooks have been found in the digestive tracts of stranded animals, and other threats named are fishing nets, boat strikes and underwater noise.