This species is fairly gregarious and strands relatively frequently for a beaked whale.

[3] The species was first described in 1876 by Julius von Haast, director of the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand.

His description was based on three skulls he had received in May 1875 from a Louis Walter Hood Esq.

[4] Gray's beaked whale is a fairly slender member of the genus.

In both sexes, 17–22 small teeth per row located towards the back of the mouth have been reported, but not confirmed.

Gray's beaked whale is included in the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Conservation of the Manatee and Small Cetaceans of Western Africa and Macaronesia (Western African Aquatic Mammals MoU) and the Memorandum of Understanding for the Conservation of Cetaceans and Their Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region (Pacific Cetaceans MoU)