The stomach contents of two Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) stranded along the eastern Adriatic coast were examined. One was a male stranded in 2004 and the other was a newborn stranded in 2008. Milk was found in the newborn's stomach. The prey of the male was only cephalopods belonging mainly to the Teuthoidea. Five families and seven species were identified. Octopoteuthis sicula represented about 50% of estimated prey weight and Chiroteuthis veranyi was the most frequent species (estimated from the quantity of lower beaks). Three species are not listed in the Adriatic fauna, while the other species are found in middle and lower slope cephalopod assemblages in the southern Adriatic Sea.

In the first seven months of 2008, eighteen Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), four Sowerby's beaked whales (Mesoplodon bidens), five unidentified beaked whales and twenty-nine long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) were reported stranded in the UK and Ireland. Decomposition of those animals investigated puts the predicted time of death at mid-January. Concerns that an unusual mortality event had taken place prompted further investigations. Most carcasses were too decomposed for necropsy. A summary of findings is presented here. Although the initial stranding of five Cuvier's beaked whales in Scotland shared some similarities with atypical mass stranding events linked in time and space to mid-frequency naval sonars, there were two important differences with the remaining strandings during this period. First, the geographical range of the event was very wide and second, the strandings occurred over a prolonged period of several months. Both of these factors could be related to the fact that the mortalities occurred offshore and the carcasses drifted ashore. The cause(s) of this high number of strandings of mixed offshore cetacean species during this period remain undetermined.

On 25 March 2008, a stranded Cuvier's beaked whale was discovered on the southern coast of the Moray Firth in north-east Scotland. Whilst strandings of the species are not uncommon in Scotland, the vast majority occur along the Atlantic coasts to the west of Scotland and Ireland. By comparison, records from the North Sea coast are notably absent, and this event is believed to be the first documented stranding of a Ziphius cavirostris from this mainland coastal region until now. Due to the severe state of decomposition of the specimen, no necropsy was made and therefore the cause of death could not be determined. However, this event may have been linked to a number of other beaked whale strandings in Scotland at this time. Whilst the North Sea region is considered to be an entrapment area for several species of oceanic whale, the Cuvier's beaked whale is rarely thought to travel far enough north to enter this trap. However, the phenology of these and other recent Cuvier's beaked whale strandings would suggest a possible northern range expansion for this species in UK waters, which may explain the increasing number of incidental events now being observed.

A total of 17,651 km of sailboat survey effort obtained with very good sighting conditions was pooled over the period 1995 to 2007 to provide an insight into Cuvier's beaked whales' (Ziphius cavirostris) distribution in the western and central Mediterranean Sea. Although only six confirmed sightings were obtained under such conditions, complementary sightings made a total of eleven confirmed records. Their distribution showed that only slope habitat, and its close proximity, was favourable to the species. In contrast to regions pointed out in the recent literature, such as the Alboran, Ligurian and Ionian Seas, it appeared that the Tyrrhenian Sea was likely to be an important area for Cuvier's beaked whales in the Mediterranean. Sighting rates of 0.1–0.25 sighting/100 km and sighting rates for individuals of 0.2–0.5 individual/100 km were obtained in favourable regions. When compared to sighting rates obtained on Risso's dolphins Grampus griseus during the same surveys, the Cuvier's beaked whale appeared to be quite a frequent species in its favoured habitats. The present study contributes a better knowledge of this poorly-known species, in the context of increasing and threatening anthropogenic noises.