[Illustration: Figure 72.--A beaked whale, probably a goosebeaked whale, jumps beside a research ship off northwestern Baja California. Note the position and shape of the dorsal fin and the depression just behind the head. (_Photo by S. Leatherwood._)]
[Illustration: Figure 73.--A goosebeaked whale stranded in Delaware. Goosebeaked whales are primarily tropical in distribution, though they apparently venture into temperate areas in summer. Note the prominent dorsal fin, the lighter coloration of the head, and the depression just behind the head. (_Photo from U.S. National Museum, courtesy of J. G. Mead._)]
[Illustration: Figure 74.--A closeup of the dorsal surface of the flukes of a juvenile goosebeaked whale stranded in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Like other members of the beaked whale family, goosebeaked whales lack a distinctive notch in the rear margin of the flukes. (_Photo courtesy of Florida's Gulfarium._)]
[Illustration: Figure 75.--Stranded goosebeaked whales, an adult male from northern California (top) and an immature female from the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (bottom). Note the brownish color of the back, marked in the adult animal by blotches of lighter gray and numerous scratch marks, presumably tooth rakes. Note also the mouth cleft, shorter in this species than in any other beaked whale species, and the slightly concave appearance to the upper margin of the head. The beak is usually less developed in large animals. The inset photo shows a ventral view of the tip of the lower jaw of an adult male from the east coast of Florida. The two teeth of the species are emerged above the gum only in adult males. (_Photos by W. J. Houck (top), Florida's Gulfarium (middle), and W. A. Huck, courtesy of Marineland of Florida (inset)._)]
In addition to the northern bottlenosed whale (p. 67) and the goosebeaked whale (p. 70), four other species of beaked whales have been reported from the western North Atlantic. All four species are known primarily from stranded specimens and have been rarely encountered at sea. Therefore statements of range are usually limited to inferences from locations of strandings, and information on appearance and habits of the species in the wild is almost totally lacking.