Short Communication: Rare sighting of Gervais’ beaked whales in offshore waters of southeastern Brazil

In Brazil, there have been only two recorded sightings of Gervais’ beaked whales to date. In 2001, an individual was found washed ashore in São Paulo (Santos et al., 2003). In the same year (2001), another individual was found washed ashore in Ceará (Martins et al., 2004; Meirelles et al., 2009). On 23 June 2021, a group of three individuals was sighted in offshore waters of southeastern Brazil as part of a monitoring exercise during offshore oil and gas activities. This represents the first recorded sighting of Gervais’ beaked whales in the region and the southernmost record of this species in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean.