Check List 19(2): 209-214, doi: 10.15560/19.2.209
First records of Mesoplodon europaeus (Gervais, 1855), Gervais’ Beaked Whale (Cetacea, Ziphiidae, Mesoplodon), and other beaked whales in Suriname, South America
Marijke N. de Boer‡§, Michiel van den Bergh|, Monique Pool¶, Tomas Willems#‡ Wageningen Marine Research, Den Helder, Netherlands§ Seven Seas Marine Consultancy, Amsterdam, Netherlands| WWF Guianas, Paramaribo, Suriname¶ Green Heritage Fund Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname# Fisheries Department (MAAHF), Paramaribo, Suriname
Corresponding author: Marijke N. de Boer ( marijkedeboer@hotmail.com ) Academic editor: Mario Alberto Cozzuol © Marijke N. de Boer, Michiel van den Bergh, Monique Pool, Tomas Willems. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
De Boer MN, van den Bergh M, Pool M, Willems T (2023) First records of Mesoplodon europaeus (Gervais, 1855), Gervais’ Beaked Whale (Cetacea, Ziphiidae, Mesoplodon), and other beaked whales in Suriname, South America. Check List 19(2): 209-214. https://doi.org/10.15560/19.2.209 |  |
Abstract
A group of Mesoplodon europaeus (Gervais, 1885), Gervais’ Beaked Whales, were recorded along the Demerara Plateau (Suriname) at depths of 2,300 and 2,700 m. These are the first records of the species within the Guiana Basin. The Demerara Plateau may well offer an important habitat for deep-diving beaked whales, but further research is needed. We emphasize that, in light of a recent increase in oil and gas exploitation activities, there is an urgency to develop effective regionally and nationally specific conservation measures for whales in Suriname.
Keywords
Cetacean, conservation, Demerara Plateau, Guiana basin, marine spatial planning, megafauna survey, wider Caribbean region