Stejneger's beaked whale

Stejneger's beaked whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri), also known as the Bering Sea beaked whale or the saber-toothed whale, is a relatively unknown member of the genus Mesoplodon inhabiting the North Pacific Ocean. Leonhard Hess Stejneger collected the type specimen (a beach-worn skull) on Bering Island in 1883, from which Frederick W. True provided the species' description in 1885. In 1904, the first complete skull (from an adult male that had stranded near Newport, Oregon) was collected, which confirmed the species' validity. Limited data exists regarding the global population of Stejneger's beaked whales, primarily due to the infrequency of sightings at sea. In general, beaked whales are elusive and wary, and the species within this family do not have prominent physical traits in comparison to other beaked whales. This makes it challenging to identify them individually.