. The Canadian field-naturalist. Figure 1. True's Beaked Whale, Mesoplodon mirus (redrawn and adapted from Watson 1981). National: The species is protected by general legislation in several countries but no specific provisions are known. In Canada, general protection is provided under the Cetacean Protection Regulations promulgated under the Fisheries Act. In the United States, general protection is provided under the Marine Mammals Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. Population Sizes and Trends As with other ziphiids that are known principally from stranding records, it is not poss
. The Canadian field-naturalist. Figure 1. True's Beaked Whale, Mesoplodon mirus (redrawn and adapted from Watson 1981). National: The species is protected by general legislation in several countries but no specific provisions are known. In Canada, general protection is provided under the Cetacean Protection Regulations promulgated under the Fisheries Act. In the United States, general protection is provided under the Marine Mammals Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. Population Sizes and Trends As with other ziphiids that are known principally from stranding records, it is not possible to determine population numbers. They have not been subject to commercial exploitation and it is unknown if the numbers have changed over the last century (Mitchell 1975a, 1975b). It may be more widespread than previously thought as the South African strandings are probably indicative of a separate stock (McCann and Talbot 1963; Ross 1969; Watson 1981). Only one stranding has been reported in Canada, on Cape Breton Island in 1938 (Moore 1966), and this is the most northerly record from the western North Atlantic. Other North American strandings are few (eight) and have occurred along the United States coast from Maine to Florida. In the eastern North Atlantic four records exist, one from the Orkney Islands and three from the west coast of Ireland (Moore 1966; Brown 1975; Watson 1981). Since this is a pelagic species, it is rarely encountered alive and no verified sightings at sea are known. Habitat As the species is rarely observed, there is no information on its habitat, except for the limited distributional data provided by strandings. The species' diet appears to consist of squid and deep- water fish (Mitchell 1975b; Watson 1981), thus True's Beaked Whale probably inhabits the open ocean rather than coastal areas, as do most other ziphiids. General Biology Very little is known about the life history of the species. Most information comes from stranded individuals. They
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