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Pacific Conservation Biology Pacific Conservation Biology Society
A journal dedicated to conservation and wildlife management in the Pacific region.
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Northernmost record of Shepherd’s beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi) – a morphological and genetic description from a stranding from Shark Bay, Western Australia.

Carly Holyoake, David Holley, Peter B S Spencer, Chandra Salgado-Kent, Douglas Coughran and Lars Bejder

Pacific Conservation Biology 19(2) 169 - 174
Published: 01 June 2013

Abstract

Shepherd’s beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi) is one of the least known cetaceans. Based on the location of 45 strandings and two at-sea sightings, T. shepherdi is thought to have a circumpolar distribution in the temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere between latitudes 33°S and 50°S. On 10 November 2008, a female T. shepherdi was found dead on a beach in Shark Bay, Western Australia, at 113° 16’E, 26° 20’S. DNA sequencing was used to verify the identification of the specimen, which is the northern most record for this species. The age of the specimen was estimated to be between 12 and 15 years, based on counting dentine growth layer groups in two teeth, assuming an annual rate of deposition.

https://doi.org/10.1071/PC130169

© CSIRO 2013

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