Florida mammals

Gervais' beaked whale in Florida

Mesoplodon europaeus

Native to Florida SNR Unranked in Florida

Not listed as nonindigenous in Florida by USGS NAS; native to its Florida range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Gervais' beaked whale in Florida, by the numbers

Occasional in Florida 64th most recorded of 116 mammals logged in Florida

11 occurrence records
2 with iNaturalist photos
Jun 1, 2024 Last seen in Florida

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Gervais' beaked whale in Florida

Most sightings fall in June.

11 Florida occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence. Based on a small number of dated records; the seasonal pattern may not be representative.

Monthly Florida records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March1
April0
May0
June5
July0
August4
September0
October0
November0
December1

Monthly gervais' beaked whale occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Florida, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Sparse observation record in Florida; presence confirmed but timing of activity not well documented.

Occurrence map

Where Gervais' beaked whale has been recorded in Florida

11 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

10 Florida records mapped

Where it's recorded in Florida

CountyRecords
Volusia County 2
Broward County 2
Other localities 7

The complete county distribution, spread across 2 Florida counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Gervais’ beaked whale is a deep-diving species rarely seen alive near shore, and Florida’s 11 documented records show it: 10 come from GBIF and just 2 from iNaturalist, a split typical of strandings and offshore survey data rather than casual sightings. NatureServe hasn’t assigned the species a Florida rank (listed SNR, unranked), though the IUCN lists it as globally Least Concern.

Reports peak in June, with January and May producing smaller, matched bumps, while every other month stays low. That pattern more likely tracks survey and stranding-response timing than it does the whale’s actual presence off Florida’s coast.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in Florida in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap