It has a small head with a prominent forehead and long beak; there is an indent before the blow hole. The adult male has a pair of triangular teeth midway down its beak on the lower jaw. It has a curved dorsal fin set well back on its body. They often have pale oval scarring which is a result of parasites. This whale is a lot more slender than the Cuvier’s beaked whale and northern bottlenose whale, and is more like an elongated dolphin in shape.