FIRST AT-SEA CONFIRMATION OF THE GINKGO-TOOTHED BEAKED WHALE
For years, a mysterious echolocation pulse known by scientists as BW43 echoed through the deep waters of the North Pacific. Now, a landmark 2024 expedition off the coast of Baja California has finally cracked the case. Researchers successfully sighted, recorded, and genetically sampled a group of beaked whales, confirming the producer of the BW43 pulse is the equally enigmatic ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens). This is the first time this species has ever been definitively identified and studied alive in the wild, linking its genetic, acoustic, and visual identity.
-A juvenile/subadult ginkgo-toothed beaked whale.
For the first time, scientists describe the whale's at-sea appearance, noting how juveniles are pale gray with a distinctive dark eye patch, while adult males develop a diagnostic white-tipped beak. Photographs of adult males showed extensive scarring from combat with other males. Previously known in the eastern Pacific from only two strandings over 70 years, the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale was considered a vagrant. Now, by mapping the widespread BW43 detections, we know it is a resident species from California to Baja California.
main photograph: young adult male ginkgo-toothed beaked whale swims along with the same adult male.
Reference (Open Access): Henderson et al. 2026. First At‐Sea Identifications of Ginkgo‐Toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens): Acoustics, Genetics, and Biological Observations Off Baja California, México. Marine Mammal Science.
