---
title: "Dense-beaked Whale"
description: "Mesoplodon densirostris — Mammals. Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris), or the dense-beaked whale, is believed to be the widest ranging mesoplodont whale."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/dense-beaked-whale
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Dense-beaked Whale

> Mesoplodon densirostris — Mammals. Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris), or the dense-beaked whale, is believed to be the widest ranging mesoplodont whale.

- Scientific name: *Mesoplodon densirostris*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 86
- Wikidata: [Q636590](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q636590)
- iNaturalist taxon: [41408](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/41408)

## Names

- en: Dense-beaked Whale
- de: Blainville-Schnabelwal
- es: Ballena-picuda de Blainsville
- fr: Mésoplodon de Blainville
- nl: Spitssnuitdolfijn van de Blainville
- pt: Baleia-bicuda-de-blainville
- pl: Dziobowal zwartopyski

## Countries with the most observations

PT (24), ES (4), ZA (4)

## Summary

Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris), or the dense-beaked whale, is believed to be the widest ranging mesoplodont whale. The French zoologist Henri de Blainville first described the species in 1817 from a small piece of jaw—the heaviest bone he had ever come across—which resulted in the name densirostris (Latin for "dense beak"). Off the northeastern Bahamas, the animals are particularly well documented, and a photo identification project started sometime after 2002.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blainville%27s_beaked_whale

## Photo

![Dense-beaked Whale](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/dense-beaked-whale/medium.jpg)

Photo: NOAA Photo Library · Public domain · commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beaked_Whale.jpg

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/dense-beaked-whale?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).