How big does a Blainville’s beaked whale get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Blainville’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) reaches an average size of 4.59 meter (15′ 1″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). Usually, they reach an age of 27 years. A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 2300 kg (5070.63 lbs). The Blainville’s beaked whale (genus: Mesoplodon) is a member of the family Ziphiidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
Blainville’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris), or the dense-beaked whale, is the widest ranging mesoplodont whale and perhaps the most documented. 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.
Animals of the same family as a Blainville’s beaked whale
We found other animals of the Ziphiidae family:
- Sowerby’s beaked whale with a size of 5.03 meter (16′ 7″)
- Northern bottlenose whale with a size of 8.79 meter (28′ 10″)
- True’s beaked whale with a size of 5.18 meter (17′ 0″)
- Southern bottlenose whale with a size of 6.7 meter (22′ 0″)
- Stejneger’s beaked whale with a size of 6.09 meter (20′ 0″)
- Gervais’ beaked whale with a size of 6.71 meter (22′ 1″)
- Hubbs’ beaked whale with a size of 5.4 meter (17′ 9″)
- Hector’s beaked whale bringing 1000 kilos (2204.62 lbs) to the scale
- Strap-toothed whale bringing 1500 kilos (3306.93 lbs) to the scale
- Tropical bottlenose whale bringing 2200 kilos (4850.16 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Blainville’s beaked whale
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Blainville’s beaked whale:
- Beluga whale with a size of 4.25 meter (14′ 0″)
- Northern elephant seal with a size of 3.72 meter (12′ 3″)
- Hubbs’ beaked whale with a size of 5.4 meter (17′ 9″)
- Northern giraffe with a size of 4.18 meter (13′ 9″)
- True’s beaked whale with a size of 5.18 meter (17′ 0″)
- Sowerby’s beaked whale with a size of 5.03 meter (16′ 7″)
- Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale with a size of 4.88 meter (16′ 1″)
- Narwhal with a size of 5.1 meter (16′ 9″)
- Andrews’ beaked whale with a size of 4.26 meter (14′ 0″)
- Indian rhinoceros with a size of 3.74 meter (12′ 4″)
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Blainville’s beaked whale
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Blainville’s beaked whale:
- Grévy’s zebra with an average maximal age of 26 years
- Sika deer with an average maximal age of 25.42 years
- Aardvark with an average maximal age of 24 years
- De Brazza’s monkey with an average maximal age of 26.25 years
- Southern elephant seal with an average maximal age of 23 years
- Brown woolly monkey with an average maximal age of 30 years
- Sun bear with an average maximal age of 24.75 years
- Rodrigues flying fox with an average maximal age of 30 years
- Common wallaroo with an average maximal age of 24 years
- Giant anteater with an average maximal age of 26 years
Animals with the same weight as a Blainville’s beaked whale
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Mesoplodon densirostris:
- White rhinoceros with a weight of 2272.97 kilos (5011.04 lbs)
- Andrews’ beaked whale with a weight of 2600 kilos (5732.01 lbs)
- Tropical bottlenose whale with a weight of 2200 kilos (4850.16 lbs)
- Shepherd’s beaked whale with a weight of 2500 kilos (5511.55 lbs)
- True’s beaked whale with a weight of 2100 kilos (4629.7 lbs)