First At‐Sea Identifications of Ginkgo‐Toothed Beaked Whale ( Mesoplodon ginkgodens ): Acoustics, Genetics, and Biological Observations Off Baja California, México

Abstract

In 2024, an expedition was conducted off northwestern Baja California, México, to find and identify the beaked whale species that produced the BW43 echolocation pulse previously recorded in this area and elsewhere in the North Pacific. There were five Mesoplodon sightings and 21 BW43 acoustic detections on both a towed array and drifting pole buoy recorders over the course of the survey. Three of the sightings had concurrent acoustic detections, and a biopsy sample and environmental DNA were also collected from one of the sightings. The genetic identification confirms that the Mesoplodon sighted and acoustically recorded was the ginkgo‐toothed beaked whale ( Mesoplodon ginkgodens ), and the co‐occurrence of these sightings with the BW43 acoustic detections definitively links the species and its echolocation pulse. This is the first time that genetically confirmed ginkgo‐toothed beaked whales have been observed at sea and definitively linked to the BW43 pulse. This paper details the encounters, acoustic behavior, genetics, coloration, and external morphology of this species, including a comprehensive review of its distribution using historical sightings, strandings, and acoustic detection data from the North Pacific Ocean.

Bibliographic Information