The new find helps shed light on the evolution of beaked whales as well as their competition: Soon after M. gregarius swam the region's seas, dolphins appeared on the scene, and their success in
shallow coastal waters (
where they now dominate), may have driven ziphiids to abandon foraging in surface
waters.
Their eggs and larvae drifted for weeks offshore, bathed in oily
water, before the juveniles at last took refuge in the
shallow coastal estuaries,
where they will mature.