Talk:Beaked whale

Conservation status
The article states that beaked whales may have gotten decompression sickness (the bends) after being exposed to sonar pulses. The reference, however, only states that this is one man's theory. Also, when I was getting my diver's certification, my instructor made the comment that whales and sea mammals cannot get decompression sickness, since they breathe only unpressurized air at the surface. Can anyone with more knowledge in this area help? Mech Aaron (talk) —Preceding undated comment was added at 18:57, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Molecular Phylogenetics info by Oxford Univercity
somebody please check this site [] and use it for the article if it is okey with the copyrights. Thanks.--92.118.191.48 (talk) 07:54, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

What does "shaping the evolution" mean?
Surely any secondary sexual characteristic in any animal - such as the elephant seal, or the narwhal - must have "shaped" the animal's evolution: the characteristic evolved. The animal acquired the characteristic, so its evolution was affected. This goes without saying, so it can't be what is meant by "shaped", but I, the casual reader, have no idea what else "shaped" might mean in this context. Perhaps the meaning is right there in the text, but it isn't clear. 213.122.43.218 (talk) 16:13, 25 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I second that question. --LiamE (talk) 02:18, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Most extreme divers
The claim of being the world's most extreme diver seems to conflict with information on the sperm whale page. The sperm whale seems to have similar (or even greater) diving capabilities. I'm not a whale expert, and the reference for the sperm whale statistics is an encyclopedia to which I do not have easy access. Would someone be willing to check which animal actually is the better diver and to possibly mention how the beaked whale compares to the sperm whale in the article. PSimeon (talk) 01:45, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

A whale can´t get decompression sickness
Some person wrote that the Beaked whale could get decompression sickness (DCS) when they dive so deep. Because a whale only inhale air at the surface no nitrogen builds up in their body. Compare scuba diving with freediving. Scuba divers can get DCS because they breath under water. A freediver can´t get DCS because like a whale they only breathe at the surface.. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Grimlund (talk • contribs) 09:23, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Film section
I'm not sure what the purpose of this section of the article is, or even exactly what it's saying. There's no citation provided, and it doesn't seem, from the information that is there, that this is in any way notable, or of more than passing relevance. It was restored after I deleted it, so I won't edit war over it, but why is it here? Is there evidence of notability? Is it actually meant to be a reference for something (and if so, what?), or an External Link (and if so, to where)? Anaxial (talk) 11:24, 8 August 2010 (UTC)


 * From the article: Tracking their silent voices (original title: Auf der leisen Spur der Schnabelwale) is a documentary about an Atlantic scientific expedition. A team of marine biologists tried to find beaked whales and to analyze their behavior using acoustic methods only. VagueCitation needed

And I removed it again. There are actually sightings and some nice images after 38 minutes, but as pointed out above, this section adds virtually nothing to the article. --Fama Clamosa (talk) 19:43, 11 January 2014 (UTC)

Conservation: Plastic bags?
The cited article mentions plastic debris -- not "bags" -- as one of the potential causes of anthropogenic mortality. It doesn't mention the digestive process or bad within the article itself. It actually quotes a different article that mentions the plastic debris in the stomach of one beaked whale. The claim needs to be better verified if it is going to be included here. Ccchhhrrriiisss (talk) 03:05, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

Hyperoodontidae vs. Ziphiidae
Doesn't Hyperoodontidae Gray 1846 have precedence over Ziphiidae Gray 1850? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.151.16.5 (talk) 02:02, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Regarding polygyny
The sentence "polygynous mating system – which would considerably limit the number of males a female individual can choose." doesn't really make sense to me. My understanding of the term, as well as the current definition here on Wikipedia, suggests that polygyny means a female only mates with one male while the male mates with many females. If this is not the case, I believe polygynandry is the desired term, not polygyny.

WellRehearsedWhale (talk) 02:01, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

Caviziphius
This genus is listed both as incertae sedis and among the Ziphiinae. That can't be right. Chrismorey (talk) 16:56, 18 November 2023 (UTC)