Sperm Whales -- Cetacean Info at Whale Songs

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Physeter macrocephalus -- from the Greek physeter (blower), makers (long) and kephale (head).

COMMON NAME: Sperm Whale

DISCOVERED: Linnaeus, 1758

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION:

* Widely distributed in deep waters worldwide between 60 degrees N and 70 degrees S
* Different migration patterns for males and females -- male more poleward
* Shifts occur in spring and summer, returning in fall
NATURAL HISTORY:

EXTERNAL ANATOMY

INTERNAL ANATOMY

DEEP DIVING ADAPTATIONS

HABITAT:

Frequents both offshore and inshore waters

FOOD & FEEDING:

* Squid, ocassionally octopus and fish including salmon, rockfish, lincod and skates
* 92 minute feeding dive
* Female and immature sperm whale usually dive for food about 40 minutes at less than 500 m.
* Usually find their food in upper sections of water column and particularly in the evenings, often within a few meters of the surface

LIFE CYCLE:

* May live more than 50 years
* Grows steadily during and after weaning period
* Males are sexually mature at 0 years and up at 10-12 m long and females at 8-11 years at 8.3-9.1 m long
* Mating most active in April
* Pregnancy lasts 16-17 months

BEHAVIOR:

* Able to hold breath longest of all whales
* Known to dive at least 1100 meters -- may reach more than 3000 meters
* Remain submerged for hour or more
* Single, explosive blow -- may remain on surface and emit more than 50 blows before next dive
* Throw triangular flukes before beginning dive
* Hundreds may travel together, but there are 2 main groups: "bachelor schools" (young, inactive males) and "breeding schools" (females with young of both sexes)
* Typically contain 20-25 animals
* Older males tend to live in solitary or small groups of up to 6 animals

SPERM WHALE SONGS: The following .au files are just a sampling of the many sounds of the Sperm Whale.

* Clicks [68k .au file]
* Clicks 2 [145k .au file]
* Clicks 3 [26k .au file]
* Rapid clicks [264k .au file]
* "Machine-gun" Clicks [68k .au file]
* Creak [119k .au file]
* Codas [153k .au file]
* Coadas 2 [179k .au file]
* Trumpet [17k .au file]
* Trumpet 2 [34k .au file]

WORLD POPULATION

* Total world population unknown
* 40,000-80,000 in North Pacific
* 32,000 in southern hemisphere south of 30 degrees S

HUMAN INFLUENCES

* Was one of the most heavily exploited of all the world's whales, although it is still relatively abundant
* Threats:
* Human disturbance
* Entanglement in fishing nets both deliberately and unconsciously
* Environmental degradation (i.e. pollution, swallowing man-made objects)
* Modern whaling changed the age and sex structure of stocks by selectively removing large adult whales
* Used for industrial products such as oil, spermacet, wax, meal, ambergis (waxy substance used in perfume industry)



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