User:Skyrousseau/sandbox

Feeding.

Baird's Beaked Whale has a diet that consists primarily of deep sea fish and cephalopods. On more rare occasions they have been known to eat octopus, lobster, crab, rockfish, herring, starfish and sea cucumbers. Their dive depths, between 1000- 3000 meters, are consistent with the habitats of their selected prey. They also have a mean dive time of about 1 hour, which suggests a long search and handling time. Their generalist feeding strategy may be reflective of limited prey availability at such depths or regions, as mammals become more general feeding strategists as prey diversity decreases. It may also explain their migrational patterns around the North Pacific. In summer months, Baird's beaked whale can be found off the Pacific coast of Japan where demersal fish are abundant. Stomach content analysis found that Baird's beaked whale fed in benthic zones whether it was day or night. This behavior differs from other Odontocete relatives (namely the Common Dolphin, Delphinus delphis, and Dall's porpoise, Phocoenoides dalli) who feed in mesopelagic regions during the day when the light can penetrate the water column. This suggests that Baird's beaked whale does not rely as much on its sense of sight and has evolved to navigate and hunt competently with echolocation.