I'm trying to do some diaries that highlight the species of marine and coastal life in the Gulf of Mexico. I think it's important to always remember what's at stake when we mess with nature.
Please keep our mothership afloat and recommend here
Information from The American Cetacean Society
The sperm whale is the largest odontocete, or toothed whale. It has been portrayed frequently in art and literature as a symbol of the great whales, and is best known as the leviathan Moby Dick in Melville's novel by that name. Unique in appearance, the sperm whale seems to have social characteristics that, to date, also appear to be unique among whales. Sperm whales are among the deepest diving cetaceans, and are found in all oceans of the world. Females and their young travel in permanent units, whereas the much larger males rove between breeding and feeding grounds, as well as among groups of females when breeding.
From National Geographic
Sperm whales are easily recognized by their massive heads and prominent rounded foreheads. They have the largest brain of any creature known to have lived on Earth. Their heads also hold large quantities of a substance called spermaceti. Whalers once believed that the oily fluid was sperm, but scientists still do not understand the function of spermaceti. One common theory is that the fluid—which hardens to wax when cold—helps the whale alter its buoyancy so it can dive deep and rise again. Sperm whales are known to dive as deep as 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) in search of squid to eat. These giant mammals must hold their breath for up to 90 minutes on such dives.
These toothed whales eat thousands of pounds of fish and squid—about one ton (907 kg) per day.
Sperm whales are often spotted in groups (called pods) of some 15 to 20 animals. Pods include females and their young, while males may roam solo or move from group to group. Females and calves remain in tropical or subtropical waters all year long, and apparently practice communal childcare. Males migrate to higher latitudes, alone or in groups, and head back towards the equator to breed. Driven by their tale fluke, approximately 16 feet (5 meters) from tip to tip, they can cruise the oceans at around 23 miles (37 kilometers) per hour.
These popular leviathans are vocal and emit a series of "clangs" that may be used for communication or for echolocation. Animals that use echolocation emit sounds that travel underwater until they encounter objects, then bounce back to their senders—revealing the location, size, and shape of their target.
Sperm whales were mainstays of whaling's 18th and 19th century heyday. A mythical albino sperm whale was immortalized in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, though Ahab's nemesis was apparently based on a real animal whalers called Mocha Dick. The animals were targeted for oil and ambergris, a substance that forms around squid beaks in a whale's stomach. Ambergris was (and remains) a very valuable substance once used in perfumes.
Despite large population drops due to whaling, sperm whales are still fairly numerous.
Sperm Whale Facts
Sperm Whale Facts
Facts and information about Sperm Whales.
Sperm Whales
* Scientific Name: Physeter macrocephalus
* Family: Toothed Whale
* Class: Marine Mammal
Sperm Whale Facts: GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
The Sperm Whales is the largest of the toothed whales and is the largest toothed animal in the world. The whale was named after the milky-white substance spermaceti found in its head and originally mistaken for sperm. The Sperm Whale's enormous head and distinctive shape, have led many to describe it as the archetypal whale.
Sperm Whale Facts: PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
The Sperm Whale is exceptional for its very large head, particularly in males, which is typically one-third of its length. In contrast to the smooth skin of most other large whales, the skin on the back of the Sperm Whale is usually knobbly and has been likened to a prune by whale-watching enthusiasts and is uniformly grey in colour. The brain of the Sperm Whale is the largest and heaviest of all animals (weighing on average 7 kg in a grown male). However, the brain is not large relative to body size.
Sperm Whales breath air at the surface of the water through a single, s-shaped blowhole. The blowhole is located on the left side of the front if its huge head. They spout (breathe) 3-5 times per minute at rest, but the rate increases to 6-7 times per minute after a dive. The blow is a noisy, single stream that rises up to 50 feet (15 m) above the surface of the water and points forward and to the left of the whale at a 45° angle.
Sperm Whale Facts: SOCIAL STRUCTURE:
The social structure of the Sperm Whales species divides on sexual lines. Females are extremely social animals. Females stay in groups or pods of about a dozen individuals and their young. The members of a pod protect the young, the sick and the injured. This group structure allows a mother to dive very deeply to hunt while leaving her young calf, who is unable to dive very deeply, at the surface and protected by the pod.
Males leave these 'nursery schools' at somewhere between 4 and 21 years of age and join a 'bachelor school' with other males of a similar age and size. As males grow older they tend to disperse into smaller groups and the oldest males typically live solitary lives.
Sperm Whale Facts: COMMUNICATION
Sperm whales use echolocation to catch their prey in the dark oceanic depths. Mothers also use it it keep track of their young calf when they are diving to hunt; a calf cannot dive very deeply because it has to breathe much more frequently than the mother does.
Let's remember what we have to lose here folks. I read that there have been 3 known sperm whale deaths in the Gulf of Mexico. I don't know whether they have determined that they are related to the spill and I don't want to play into conspiracy theories but I do know that 3 is too many. Please donate to the Marine Mammal Center that works so hard to help save marine life not only during the current disaster but all year round.