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The whale formally described as new in 2019 is Berardius minimus, commonly called Sato’s beaked whale. It was recognized as a distinct species after scientists compared museum and other specimens—not because researchers first encountered a living animal that year. Confirmed observations of living whales came later, in 2021.
How scientists identified Sato’s beaked whale
In a paper published August 30, 2019, Tadasu K. Yamada and colleagues described Berardius minimus as the third recognized species in the genus Berardius. Their analysis covered four specimens: three from Hokkaido and one held by the U.S. National Museum of Natural History. The researchers compared external form, skull measurements (osteometry) and molecular evidence to distinguish the whale from its relatives. Read the paper in Scientific Reports.
The species’ type locality—the place associated with the specimen used to formally establish the name—is Tokoro Town, Kitami City, Hokkaido, in the southern Okhotsk Sea. That locality does not, by itself, define the whale’s full range.
How it differs from Baird’s beaked whale
The most readily reported differences are size, beak proportions and color. Skull characteristics and genetic analysis also supported treating the Hokkaido form as a separate species, rather than a small-bodied variant of Baird’s beaked whale.
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| Feature | Sato’s beaked whale (B. minimus) | Baird’s beaked whale (B. bairdii) |
|---|---|---|
| Reported mature body length | 6.2–6.9 m, as given in Hokkaido University’s 2019 summary of the study | 10.0 m, as given in the same summary; this is a reported comparison, not a universal size limit |
| Beak | Proportionately shorter | Longer in comparison with B. minimus |
| Color | Darker; described as a black form | Ordinarily slate gray in the Hokkaido whalers’ distinction |
| Skull and genetics | Cranial differences and molecular evidence supported its recognition as a distinct species | Compared with B. minimus in the taxonomic analysis |
Hokkaido whalers had long distinguished the smaller, dark whale as Kurotsuchikujira, meaning “black Baird’s beaked whale,” from the slate-gray Baird’s beaked whale. The university release also records the local name Karasu (“crow”), but says its identity was unclear; Karasu should not be treated as an established synonym for B. minimus. The genus’ other recognized species is Arnoux’s beaked whale (B. arnuxii), which occurs in the Southern Ocean; Baird’s beaked whale occurs in the North Pacific and adjacent waters.
Were living Sato’s beaked whales seen?
Yes. NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Marine Mammal Stock Assessment 2023, dated May 10, 2024, reports that the first confirmed observations of living Sato’s beaked whales occurred in 2021, off the west coast of Kunashir Island. Researchers recorded 23 encounters from May to June. A biopsy confirmed one identification, and photographs were used to identify 14 individuals in groups of four to five. In 2023, unmanned aerial vehicles photographed three groups totaling at least nine whales in Hokkaido’s Abashiri Submarine Canyon. These sightings followed, rather than formed the basis of, the 2019 specimen-based species description. See NOAA’s stock assessment.
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Where the species occurs—and what remains uncertain
NOAA describes Sato’s beaked whale as inhabiting the western and central North Pacific. Specimen and other records span northern Hokkaido, Sakhalin and Kunashir islands, Unalaska Island, and the Alaska Peninsula. NOAA gives an approximate range of 40°N–60°N and 140°E–160°W, but emphasizes that distribution is uncertain because records rely on relatively few strandings and incidental catches. It is an approximate assessment, not a complete map of the species’ range.
Reliable estimates of abundance, population trends and minimum population size are unavailable. NOAA’s assessment concerns the portion of the stock in U.S. waters, not a global census or worldwide status determination. In that U.S. context, its 2024 report says the whale is not designated depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and is not listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Separately, Berardius species are included in CITES Appendix I.
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