Southern bottlenose whale

How it lives

Dives are long. Reports give 15 to 40 minutes, up to 45 minutes, and in one source up to 60 minutes. After a deep dive it may blow every 30 to 40 seconds for 10 minutes or more. Groups are small, usually 2 to 12, and sometimes up to about 25. Gestation is thought to be about 12 months and calves about 3 m long at birth, but this is based on related species. Individuals have lived at least 37 years.

Where it goes

Southern bottlenose whales live in deep open water beyond the continental shelf, usually over 1,000 m deep and rarely in less than 200 m. They range from the Antarctic coast north to the tip of South Africa, New Zealand's North Island and southern Brazil, and are reported to approach Antarctic waters in summer. I did not find a clear migration route.

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

The global population is unknown. A 1995 study estimated about 599,300 beaked whales south of the Antarctic Convergence, mostly this species. In Antarctic waters it made up over 90 percent of beaked whale sightings. The IUCN record I read lists it as Least Concern. Whaling took some animals, including 42 by Japanese whalers and more by Soviet operations between 1970 and 1982, and the species is covered by the 1994 Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.