There are a number of species of Hawaiian odontocetes that are difficult to distinguish in the field, and we have made up one-page sheets that include photographs and text that point out the key features to distinguish them. These ID sheets could be printed and laminated to carry in the field, to help in identifying species. Photographs on these sheets are copyrighted and should not be used for any other purpose. The four sheets available are for Hawaiian "blackfish" (false killer whales, short-finned pilot whales, pygmy killer whales, and melon-headed whales), dwarf & pygmy sperm whales, pygmy killer whales & melon-headed whales, and goose-beaked (Cuvier's) & Blainville's beaked whales. Click on the sheets to download.
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 Discriminating between dwarf and pygmy sperm whales |
 Discriminating between pygmy killer whales and melon-headed whales |
Discriminating between goose-beaked (Cuvier's) and Blainville's beaked whales |
If you have photos of any of these species and would like to contribute them to our photo-identification catalogs, please see our How-to-contribute-photos web page.
To learn more about any of these species, or to see photos and videos of them, check out our Hawaiian cetacean species web pages.