Shepherd's
beaked whales are seen very rarely and so there is not
much information available on what they look like. If
you saw one at sea, it would be quite difficult to identify
it and you might get it confused with other beaked whales.
They have a steep, rounded forehead and a long narrow
beak which is quite pointed at the end. Shepherd's beaked
whales have sharp teeth in both jaws which is unusual,
because other species of beaked whales do not have full
sets of teeth. The male has a pair of larger teeth at
the tip of the lower jaw which stick out. They are dark
brown/black on the top of their bodies with two light
stripes going diagonally down their sides. These stripes
vary in colour, but the undersides of the whales tend
to be creamy white, as do the patches above the flippers.
Their flippers are small and so is their dorsal fin.
Shepherd's beaked whales have flukes with pointed tips
and fairly straight trailing edges. They do not have
a notch in the middle of their flukes.
