Reader Comments

Post a new comment on this article

Killer whales also predate on Ziphius

Posted by dpalacios164 on 09 Dec 2016 at 03:30 GMT

In 1994, while following a group of killer whales off the Galapagos Islands, we encountered a freshly dead Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) floating at sea. Inspection of the carcass indicated killer whale teeth marks along it's side, a large gash wound penetrating into the body cavity, and broken ribs. The references are Palacios et al. (1994, 2004).

Palacios, D.M., Rodriguez, P. and Brennan, B. 1994. Notes on the Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), with observations of a dead specimen. Noticias De Galápagos 54: 29–31.

Palacios, D.M., Salazar, S.K. and Day, D. 2004. Cetacean remains and strandings in the Galápagos Islands, 1923-2003. Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals 3: 127–150. (see p. 129).

No competing interests declared.