Talk:Hector's beaked whale

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This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Casiasaj. Peer reviewers: Kianaalvarez.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 23:15, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Untitled
It's a small article, but if extensive studies have not been conducted on the species, I guess it's the best we can do for now. As for importance, I don't know if low would be too low, but I'm guessing it's not high or top. -- Gray  Porpois  e Is this overformatted? 01:17, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Outcommented behavior info (needs checking)
From SaberToothedWhale (talk):

Hi. Does the following info appear to be leftover from before the split between the Hector's and Perrin's beaked whale articles?

"With only two probably sightings, there is little information on the behavior of this whale. This species may be unusual for a Mesoplodon because, in both sightings, one of the animals seemed inquisitive and actually approached the boat."

It sounds exactly the same as the encounters described for the probable Perrin's beaked whales off Southern California in 1976 and 1978.

I have outcommented the section and left a note here (click "Edit" to see).

There has been a sighting of Hector's, and that may be one of the "two" mentioned. However, there were two sightings of Perrin's, and it seems more likely that they are referred to here.

The source for the Perrin's sightings (and possibly the paragraph) is:

🇦🇹 (1978): Beaked whales. In: 🇦🇹: Marine mammals of the eastern North Pacific and Arctic waters: 88-95. Pacific Search Press, Seattle.

It being under U.S. copyright and containing the only known photo of Perrin's, someone might want to scan it (or photograph if no scanner is available). It seems to qualify as fair use if it's not high-quality (i.e. a 600x400 px image or something, IONO how large the original is): Wikipedia always fulfils the "Purpose and character" requirement, and the subject (unique record) fulfils "Nature of the copied work". A lowered-quality reproduction fulfils "Amount and substantiality", so we should be in the clear here.

I have requested the source for the Hector's sighting. Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 20:03, 13 February 2012 (UTC)


 * The source is the following paper: Gales, N. J., Dalebout, M. L. and Bannister, J. L. 2002. Genetic identification and biological observation of two free-swimming beaked whales: Hector's beaked whale (Mesoplodon hectori, Gray 1871), and Gray's beaked whale (Mesoplodon grayi, von Haast, 1876). Marine Mammal Science 18(2): 544-551. I don't have access to it, so I just cited the IUCN page (which cited Gales et al. 2002). Even CMS cites Carwardine (1995) for the exact same information in the above paragraph (Carwardine is among the sources which is listed as confusing the two species). I wish I knew when the sighting occurred, as that would solve the matter entirely, but I still feel strongly that the entire paragraph is referring only to the two Perrin's beaked whale sightings off California. SaberToothedWhale (talk) 00:06, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Distribution and Ecology
I would suggest possibly adding that in 2002 a female and male were found stranded in Argentina. There is biological data and also I believe this is the first time these beaked whales were found off the Argentine Coast. Cappozzo, H. L., et al. “Biological Data on Two Hector's Beaked Whales, Mesoplodon Hectori, Stranded in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.” Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals, lajamjournal.org/index.php/lajam/article/view/220.Kianaalvarez (talk) 02:10, 7 June 2018 (UTC)