CreatureData

Gray's beaked whale

Mesoplodon grayi von Haast, 1876

LCLeast Concernwhales and dolphins

The gray's beaked whale (Mesoplodon grayi) is a species in the family Hyperoodontidae, order Cetacea. Recorded adults weigh about 2.9 t. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Gray's beaked whale (Mesoplodon grayi)
Photo: Avenue · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the gray's beaked whale

Weight
2.9 tsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
1src for Young per litter or clutch
Active
Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
Lifestyle
Marinesrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the gray's beaked whale live?

Not recorded

What is the gray's beaked whale?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

Gray's beaked whale (Mesoplodon grayi), sometimes known as Haast's beaked whale, the scamperdown whale, or the southern beaked whale, is one of the better-known members of the genus Mesoplodon. This species is fairly gregarious and strands relatively frequently for a beaked whale. In the Māori language, this species is called hakurā or iheihe.

From the Wikipedia article “Gray's beaked whale” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gray%27s_beaked_whale&oldid=1354335651), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the gray's beaked whale endangered?

The gray's beaked whale is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the gray's beaked whale classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderCetacea
  5. familyHyperoodontidae
  6. genusMesoplodon
  7. SpeciesMesoplodon grayi von Haast, 1876

Synonyms Berardius hectori, Mesoplodon australis, Mesoplodon gray, Mesoplodon haasti, Mesoplodon layardi, Oulodon grayi

Other names and names in other languages (49)
  • Gray s beaked whaleEnglish
  • Grays beaked whaleEnglish
  • Gray’s beaked whaleEnglish
  • Gray’s beaked whaleEnglish
  • Gray’s beaked whaleEnglish
  • Haast's beaked whaleEnglish
  • Scamper-down whaleEnglish
  • Scamperdown beaked whaleEnglish
  • Scamperdown beaked whaleEnglish
  • Scamperdown whaleEnglish
  • Southern beaked whaleEnglish
  • Southern beaked whaleEnglish
  • Gray-snoetwalvisAfrikaans
  • حوت سكامبرداونArabic
  • حوت جراي المنقاريArabic
  • حوت منقاري جنوبيArabic
  • حوت هاست المنقاريArabic
  • vorvaňovec malýCzech
  • Camperdown-WalGerman
  • Gray-ZweizahnwalGerman
  • Μεσόπλοδον του ΓκρέυGreek
  • Μεσοπλόδοντας του ΓκρέυGreek
  • Μεσοπλόδοντας του GrayGreek
  • zifio de GraySpanish
  • Ballena de Pico de GraySpanish
  • ballenato hocicudo de GraySpanish
  • delfin picudo de GraySpanish
  • Delfín picudo de GraySpanish
  • valkokuonovalasFinnish
  • SuippokuononokkavalasFinnish
  • mesoplodon de GrayFrench
  • baleine à bec de GrayFrench
  • Mésoplodon de GrayFrench
  • mesoplodonte di GrayItalian
  • ミナミオウギハクジラJapanese
  • Grėjaus dvidantisLithuanian
  • HakurāMāori
  • IheiheMāori
  • GrayspisshvalNorwegian Bokmål
  • Grays spitssnuitdolfijnDutch
  • spitssnuitdolfijn van GrayDutch
  • dziobowal GrayaPolish
  • dziobowal południowyPolish
  • baleia bicuda de GrayPortuguese
  • Baleia-bicuda-de-grayPortuguese
  • ремнезуб грэяRussian
  • Grays näbbvalSwedish
  • Gray gagalı balinasıTurkish
  • Ремнезуб ГреяUkrainian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the gray's beaked whale

Other species in the same genus Mesoplodon.

CompareGray's beaked whale vs Sowerby's beaked whaleGray's beaked whale vs Blainville's beaked whaleGray's beaked whale vs Spade-toothed whaleGray's beaked whale vs Gervais's beaked whale

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the gray's beaked whale?

An adult gray's beaked whale weighs 2.9 t, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the gray's beaked whale endangered?

The gray's beaked whale is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the gray's beaked whale?

The gray's beaked whale (Mesoplodon grayi) belongs to the family Hyperoodontidae in the order Cetacea.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Gray's beaked whale (Mesoplodon grayi). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/grays-beaked-whale

MLA

“Gray's beaked whale (Mesoplodon grayi).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/grays-beaked-whale.

BibTeX
@misc{grays_beaked_whale_2026,
  title = {Gray's beaked whale (Mesoplodon grayi)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/grays-beaked-whale},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}