Cuvier’s Beaked Whale above the Ikaria Sea Trench

The Cuvier’s beaked whale is a truly enigmatic marine mammal. It is one of the least studied cetacean species worldwide, and at the same time one of the most difficult to research, as it systematically avoids contact with boats or humans.

Remarkably, unlike the other six species of marine mammals we monitor in the area – which either seek or allow interaction with humans and boats – the beaked whales allow close approach only to one of the Archipelagos Institute’s vessels: our oldest boat, which has maintained the same acoustic signature for the past 24 years, the entire time we have been monitoring the populations of this unique species.

Beaked whales, in their search for food, are capable of very deep dives – with the deepest recorded at nearly 3,000 meters and the longest lasting 2 hours and 17 minutes. In the Aegean, we record them in small groups in areas with both deep and shallow waters.

It is truly remarkable that, through the research of the Archipelagos Institute, we have been recording permanent populations of beaked whales in the same areas for the past 24 years.