AERIALOBSERVATIONS OFLARGEZIPHUD WHALES,POSSIBLYBERARDIUSAR- NUXII, OFFTHE SOUTHERN COASTOFNEW SOUTHWALES R.A. PATERSONAND A.E. PARKER & Paterson, R.A. Parker, A.E. 1994 12 01: Aerial observations of large ziphiid whales, possibly Berardius arnuxiu off the southern coast ofNew South Wales. Memoirs ofthe QueenslandMuseum37(l):301-306.Brisbane. ISSN0079-8835. Largeziphiidwhalesincidentallyobservedduringtuna-spottingoperationsonthecontinen- talslopeoftheNSWcoastbetween34°-37°SaretentativelyidentifiedasBerardiusarnuxii. Morphology, school structure, location and monthofsightingarecomparedwith available data forthe species togetherwith those forB. bairdiu its solecongener, which is confined to the North PacificOcean. Largeziphiids, aerialobservation, NewSouth Wales. RA.Paterson,QueenslandMuseum,POBox3300,SouthBrisbane, Queensland4101,Australia; A.E. Parker, POBox8, EastGracex'itle, Queensland4075.Australia; 12June1994. Detailed accounts of behaviour and school OBSERVATIONS structure ofziphiids are limited with the excep- tionof'BerardiusbairdiiandHyperoodonampul- The data are summarised (Table 1) with the latus,exploitedspeciesfoundintheNorthPacific exceptionofasightingmadeduringafamiliarisa- and North Atlantic Oceans respectively. Details tion flight in January 1962 (Fig. 1). Theabsence are reported here of large ziphiids, tentatively ofsightingsbetween 1963and 1980isconsidered identified as Berardiusarnuxii, incidentally ob- toreflectthe timing offlying operations in those servedoffthesouthernNewSouthWales(NSW) years. While catches of the preferred target coast by one of us (AEP) while employed as a species (southern bluefin tuna) were substantial, tuna-spotting pilot between 1961 and 1987. flying in NSW ceased by early December and NSW FIG. 1-School oflargeziphiidsoffthesouthern coast,January 1962. E 302 MtZMOIRS OFTHEQUEENSLAND MUSEUM TABLE Sightingsoflargeziphiid whalesoffthesouthern New acteristic of undisturbed activity The I South WalesCoast. whales usually dived when approached and swam rapidly and unidirectionally Date Time (if Position Number Estimated for periods of up to twenty minutes applicable) length(m) beneath the surface while maintaining 24.1.81 MOO |35*46'S 150"38'E 12 75 closeformation.Thisrelativelyshallow 24.1.81 1435 35*50'S150*5rE 4 7.5 depth oftravel was unique amongst all 26.1.81 1445 35'47'SI50E40'E 4(2pairs) 4.5&6.0 whale species observed by AEP. Fluke 26.1.81 1515 36'06'S 150'30'E 3 raising was not observed on any oc- 19.11 81 36°36*S 15T3TE 2 5.5-6.0 casion. With the exception or two pairs seen 29 11 81 36°42'S !52'39*E 2 5.5 on26.1.81 membersofeach groupwere 10.12.81 •uJ0T5 150 27'E 7-8 6.0 of similar length and calves were not 9 i ;:: 35B22'S I50"58'E 6 6 3 identified. Dorsal scarring and a 21.84 35e25*S 150'53*E -* prominent anterior white area on the ; 1 84 36iI3*S15D*34,E 6 9.5-10.0 rostrum were noted when the whales 7.1.84 0910 36,49\S I50'24*E >S were at the surface (Fig. 4). They were 7.1.84 1033 36\5Q*S 150'24'E —o brown on the dorsum although some were paler perhaps due to more exten- 7 1.84 J 36*57*5 150"2I'E >8 sive scarring. 9 1.84 I35,23,S150"56E -5 9 1.84 1510 36'0O,S15l'O9,E 1 6.0 Identity 9 1.84 1520 34*5rS 151*17 E -! 7.5-9.0 As aerial observation was the only 9.1.84 1600 36*I7'S151*^,E 4 7 5-9.0 meansof inspection the precise identity 11.1.84 35'44'S 150"40*E f: 7.5-9.0 of these whales remains uncertain but their body length and wcll-dcfincd 12.1.84 37*G5'S150'2rE ro&trum indicate large ziphiids. On the 19.1.84 0940 34'3!<*S]51'i6'E 4 9.0 basis ofmorphology, school structure, 19.1.84 1050 36'UTSISO^JTE ~6 location and monthsofsightingwe ten- 23.1.S4 1000 i^IITS 151'WE 4 >9.0 tatively conclude that they were Berur- 23.1.84 1145 36"38?S150"23,£ J 9.0 cliusurmtMi. Inreachingthisconclusion 2.2.84 1025 IjOrSl51"24tB 10 7.5-9.0 reliance hasbeen placedoncomparable 2.2.84 11030 |34"39*S 15119' 2 h.O-7.5 data, including aerial observations, 2.2.84 [l050 |35'I2*S151b09E 9 6.0-7.5 available lor B. bairdii the sole con- 4.2.84 |35'42\S 150"45'E 16 7.5-9.0 tgheeneNrorofth/i.PaancuiifxiiciO,cwehainc.h isconfined to operations were transferred to South Australia. NSW However,as bluefincatchesdeclinedinthe Morphology early 1980s flights were continued often until The length estimates arc consistent with those March in attempts to locate other tuna species, ofAamuxiireportedbyMeCann 975}butthey (1 such as skjpjaclc, believed to be more abundant overlap with Hyperoodon planifrons, when sea temperatures were higher (21°-27°C). Mesoptodon layaniii, Tasmacetus shepherdi, Flights were restricted in 1983 due to adverse Ziphius cavirostris and probably with in- weather and were reduced after 1984 due to fur- dopacetus pucificus which has never been ther catch decline. AEP ceased flying in (he reported in the living stale. The "overhanging" Degipnin 1987. melon and relatively short rostrum of H. Withfewexceptionssightingsweremadeinthe planifronstendtoexclude itasthe likely species. relatively narrow area of the continental slope However, sightings of H. planifrons were between34°-37°S (Fig. 2) although flights were reported in the study area at 34°I9'S, 15I°I2*E mackforconsiderabledistancesbeyondthatarea on 30 February 1988 (Lewis, 1988). The obser- AJI positions were determined by VLF/Omega vation that all members of each group were of navigational equipment. Sighting cues included .similar length supports B. arntuiiin which adult breaching (Fig. 1), surface splashing and "tight males and females are ofequal length (MeCann, Finger" formation (Fig, 3) considered most char- 1975). However, segregation of the sexes forB. ZIPHIIDWHALESIGHTINGS 303 School Structure ISTE IB3 i There is considerable similarity between the 4'S 7 schools identified here and those of B. bairdii observedaeriallyoffJapan. Kasuya(1971)noted school size of B. bairdii between 1-30 with a / *" mean of4.5. Shipboard estimates ofschool size (ofKatshueysaa,me19s8p6e)c.ieTshweerNeS1W-25scwhiotohlasmreaangneodfb7e.5- tween 1-16 with a mean of5.8. Balcomb (1989) observed a large school of approximately 80 B. ••: arnuxiiinRobertsonBay, Antarctica in February 1986. That school later split into sub-groups of 8-15. His description of close proximity, dive h sequencesandnon-raisingoftheflukesissimilar NSW to the observations. • : 37 LocationandMonthsofObservation 1 Previous data from Australasia (Hale, 1939; J • McCann, 1975) indicate that most B. arnuxii : strandings occur during the summer months of December-March. In addition, a male B. arnuxii measuring 10.06m in length stranded at Cape Riche (34°42'S, 118°36'E) on 1 January 1989. FIG.2.MapofthesouthernNSWcoastindicatingposition The skull (WAMM29335) is held in the Western oflargeziphiidsfromTable I.The200misobathisshown. Australian Museum. The data in Table 1 are restricted to summerand B. bairdii also exhibits bairdii has been noted by Leatherwood et al. (1982) and Balcomb (1989). InBerardius,aloneamongstziphiids,function- alanteriormandibularleeth (Fig. 5)eruptin both sexes (Moore, 1968). It is likely that the anterior NSW white areas observed in the ziphiids were teeth. Thebrowndorsalcolourationisconsistentwith theobservationsofBalcomb(1989)and with the colour illustration (McCann, 1975) ofan elderly male B. arnuxii stranded at Pukerua Bay, New Zealand. Other colour descriptions vary from "dark" to black (Hale, 1939; McCann, 1975). However, those descriptions were of dead or dying animals (although sowas the Pukerua Bay specimen)and it is possible thatcolourdarkened due toterminal orpost-mortem changes. Lough- lin&Perez(1985)state thatlightconditionsmay result in colour variation and note that Physeter macrocephalus and B. bairdii which are neutral grey in colourappeardarkbrown in sunlight and greenish when submerged. Miyashita (pers. comm.) considers that the NSW ziphiids belong to the genus Berardius because inter alia there is evidence of anterior convex configuration ofthe blow hole (which is unique amongst ziphiids) best seen in Fig. 6. FIG.3.Schooloflargeziphiidsal37°05'S, 150°25"Eon However, we consider that film quality is insuf- (1P2hJotaonguraarpyht1a9k8e4n.f"rToimg-h5t0f0imngaenrd"sfuobrsmeaqtueinotnlyiseenvlairdgeendt).. ficient to confirm such detail absolutely. MEMOIRSOFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM 304 FIG.4. Schooloflargeziphiids at35°12'S, 15i°09'Eon 2February 1984 showingdorsal scarringandanterior whiteareasconsideredtobeteeth. Low"bushy" blowsarealsoevident. ZIPHIIDWHALESIGHTINGS 305 asummerpeakinJapanesewaters (Omuraet al., 1955;Nishiwaki&Oguro, 1971)withmovement into northern waters during cooler months. Kasuya (1971, 1986) noted absenceofB. bairdii fromJapanesecoastal watersduringthenorthern NSW wintermonthsofJanuary-April. The sight- ings were concentrated on the continental slope between 34°-37°S and B. bairdii concentrate on the continental slope of eastern Japan between 34°-38°N (Kasuya, 1971). McCann (1975) considered that B. arnuxii ap- proached the coastal waters of New Zealand in thesummermonthstobreed. AEPisexperienced in identifying calves and estimating the lengths of other cetaceans (Paterson, 1982) but did not identifycalves in theschoolsobserved offNSW. CONCLUSION The evidence concerning B. arnuxii so ably assembled and presented by McCann (1975) togetherwiththeobservationsofBalcomb(1989) in Antarctica and the data forB. bairdii support NSW the likely identity of the ziphiids as B. arnuxii. It is admitted that the absence of a specimen introduces tantalising uncertainty and that the estimated lengths of these ziphiids in- clude species other than B. arnuxii. Future aerial and shipboard studies may result in moreprecise DNA photo-identification and skin biopsy for evaluation. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We owe particular thanks to Mr Tomio Miyashita of the Far Seas Fisheries Research Laboratory, Japan for his helpful advice. Dr Catherine Kemper of the South Australian Museum kindly provided the photograph ofthe dentary of the B. arnuxii held in the Museum's collection and Mr John Bannister, formerly Directorofdie Western Australian Museum, al- lowed us to examine specimen WAMM29335. Messrs Gary Cranitch and Bruce Cowell of the Queensland Museum prepared thephotographs. LITERATURECITED BALCOMB, K.C. 1989. Baud'sbeaked whale Berur- clius bairdii Stejneger. 1883: Amoux's beaked whale Berardiux arnuxii Duvcmoy, 1851. Pp. & FIG.5. DentaryofB. arnuxii(SAMM5012)demonstrat- 2'6H1a-n28d8b.oIonkRiodfgwmaayriSn.He. maHmamrarlisso'n.R.VJ.ol(.eds4)., ing the prominence of the anterior pairofmandibular (AcademicPress: London). teethandtheprotrusionofthemandibleinrelationtothe HALE. H.M. 1939. Rare whales in South Australia. rostrum. South Australian Naturalist 19(4): 5-8. 306 MEMOIRSOFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM FIG.6.Fourlargeziphiidsat34"38'S, 151°16'Eon I9January 1984. Possibleanteriorconvexconfigurationof blowhole(arrows). KASUYA, T. 1971. Consideration ofdistribution and MCCANN, C. 1975. A study ofthe genus Berardius migration oftoothed whalesoffthe Pacific coast Duvcrnoy. Scientific Reports of the Whales Re- toiffiJcapRaenpobratssedofuptohneaWerhiaallessighRteisnegarrecchordI.nsStcitiuetne-, MOORsEea,rcJh.CI.nst1it9u6t8e..TRoelkaytoio2n5s:hi1p1s1-a1m3o7.ng the living Tokyo 23: 37-60. generaofbeaked whales. Fieldiana, Zoology 53: 1986. DistributionandbehaviourofBaird'sbeaked RwehpaolretssooffftthheeWPhaacilfeiscRceoassetarocfhJIanpsatni.tutSec,ieTnotkifyioc NISHI20W9A-K29I8..M.&OGURO,N. 1971. Baird'sbeaked 37:61-83. whales caughton the coast ofJapan in recent 10 LEATHERWOOD.S.,REEVES,R.R.,PERRIN,W.F. years. Scientific Reports ofthe Whales Research & EVANS, W.E. 1982. Whales, dolphins and Institute,Tokyo23: 111-122. porpoisesoftheeasternNorthPacificandadjacent OMURA, H., FUJINO, K. & KIMURA, S. 1955. NArOctAicAwTaetcehrnsi.caAl RGeupiodrets.toNTMheFiSr CIidrecntuilfairca4t4i4o.n. Beaked whale Berardius bairdi of Japan with LEWIS,M. 1988.Southernbottle-nosewhales(Hyper- notesonZiphiuscavirostris. ScientificReportsof oodon planifrons) seen off Wollongong, NSW. theWhalesResearchInstitute,Tokyo 10:89-132. VictorianNaturalist 105(4): 87. PATERSON, R. 1982. Tuna spotters' sightings aid LOUGHLIN,T.R.&PEREZ,M.A. 1985.Mesoplodon sperm-whale count. Australian Fisheries 41(10): stejnegeri. Mammalian Species250: 1-6. 40-41.