Sperm whale
- This is the largest representative of toothed whales. Its length reaches 20 m. Almost a third of the length of the body is a huge head, blunted in front and compressed from the sides.
DIMENSIONS
Length: male - 15-20 m, female - 11-15 m.
The average weight of a male is 36 tons, a female is 20 tons.
BREEDING
Puberty: male - from 23-25, female - from 15-17 years.
Mating period: depends on the region.
Pregnancy: 16-17 months.
Number of cubs: 1.
LIFESTYLE
Habits: keep in herds.
Sounds: click, crackle, groan.
Food: fish, shellfish.
Life expectancy: 45-50 years.
The sperm whale dives deeper than other marine mammals. It can dive to a depth of up to 3,000 meters. Males dive deeper than females. Under water, animals can withstand up to one and a half hours. Hunting in complete darkness, sperm whales use the location.
REPRODUCTION. With the arrival of autumn, herds of sperm whales that are in the polar regions are sent to breeding grounds located near the equator. The largest and strongest males gather a harem of 10-15 females with cubs. Males fight fiercely for the place of the head of the harem; during the collision, they often break their teeth and damage their jaws. If harems are united in a herd, then there are several males in it. The male at the head of the harem mates with all females, with the exception of pregnant women and those with small cubs. After mating, he remains in the herd. After 16-17 months of pregnancy, the female gives birth to one cub. The length of the newborn is 4-4.5 meters, and the weight is about 1 ton. The feeding of the cubs lasts 5-6 or, possibly, 17-18 months (by this time the length of the cub reaches 6-8 m). Females give birth to one cub every three years.
FOOD. The main place in the diet of the sperm whale is occupied by cephalopods, among which are almost 20 species of squid. In search of these animals, sperm whales dive to a very great depth. Of fish, they prefer perch, small sharks, rays, deep-sea anglerfish. Occasionally sperm whales attack seals. Sometimes they pick up crayfish, lobsters and even stones from the bottom. Scientists believe that the stones act like millstones, grinding food in the stomach of the sperm whale. 
sperm whales They also hunt giant squid. As evidence of such a struggle, traces of squid suckers remain on the head of sperm whales.
LIFESTYLE . Sperm whales are marine mammals. Animals live in herds. There are bachelor groups, harems in which a male, females and cubs, as well as large herds consisting of several combined harems.
sperm whales breed
in all warm seas of the world. Under water, they navigate with the help of hearing and echo location, since their sight and hearing are not sufficiently developed. Whales make three types of sounds: short and frequent clicks, groans and frequent crackles. Sperm whales stranded emit a loud roar. They end up on the shore due to the failure of the location "radar". In such cases, rescuers, in order to save the whole group, kill the sperm whale, which ended up on the shore, since the animals following its roar also fall into a trap. In summer, sperm whales go to the food-rich waters of the Arctic and Antarctica.
Sperm whale and man. For a long time, the sperm whale was the most important object of whaling. From one large male, 7-10 tons of fat and up to 6 tons of spermaceti were obtained. Amber is also in special demand - fragrant intestinal secretions of these animals, its pieces are sometimes found in the rectum of males. Ambergris is a valuable product that is used in the perfume industry. From 1750 to 1850, sperm whales were hunted ruthlessly. In 1963, 35,000 sperm whales were caught. Modern whaling ships take sperm whales and other whales with ease. Whalers take advantage of the fact that instinct leads these animals to protect their wounded relative. Hunters find one sperm whale, inflict wounds on it and wait for other members of the herd to appear.
Did you know? The sperm whale swims at a speed of about 6 km/h. However, it can reach speeds up to 30 km / h.
In just a minute, the sperm whale can dive to a depth of 170 m. When emerging, it rises to the surface at a speed of 140 m / min. After a long stay under water, he takes many breaths at intervals of 20-30 seconds, releasing fountains. The fountains are tilted forward.
Newborn sperm whales have no teeth. They appear after the animal reaches puberty, and do not serve to grind food, but are used by male sperm whales in harem battles. 
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF SCACHALOT. Breathing hole: A sperm whale can stay under water from 50 minutes to one and a half hours. Having risen, he breathes many times, releasing fountains.
Fat pad: filled with a waxy substance - spermaceti. It is located on the head of a sperm whale. The fat pad protrudes sharply forward beyond the tip of the lower jaw, and the entire oral cavity is below the head.
Sperm whales protect a sick or wounded comrade by forming a protective ring from their bodies, inside which the injured animal is located.
LIVING PLACE Sperm whales live in all the oceans of the world and are divided into two populations. The northern one lives in the northern hemisphere from the equator to the Arctic, and the southern one lives from the equator to Antarctica.
Preservation. Despite the fact that the international organization that protects sperm whales has limited the catch of these animals, their numbers have declined significantly. In total, there are less than 500 thousand sperm whales.
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Among all species of mammals, the sperm whale stands out due to its huge toothy mouth, impressive size, speed and endurance. These "sea monsters" are the only ones left alive from the entire sperm whale family. Why are they being hunted? What threat does it pose to humans? How does it live and what does it eat? All this later in the article!
Description of the sperm whale
In the open sea you can meet amazing creatures of huge sizes. One of them is the sperm whale predator whale. Its main difference from other whales is the diet. He is not interested in plankton or algae, but hunts for "bigger fish" in the truest sense of the word. They are predators that in an emergency can attack people. If you do not threaten the lives of the cubs and do not interfere with daily activities, they will not attack a person on their own.
Appearance
Sperm whales look very unusual and a little scary. The first thing that catches your eye is a huge head, which, at first glance, is larger than the body. The figure is most clearly expressed in profile, when viewed from the front, the head does not stand out and the sperm whale can be easily confused with a whale. “The bigger the body, the bigger the brain,” this rule applies to most mammals, but not to sperm whales.
The skull contains a large number of spongy tissue and fat, and the brain itself is only a few times larger than a human. From the spongy substance, spermaceti is extracted - a substance with a wax base. At the initial stages of the development of the chemical industry, candles, creams, the basis for ointments, and glue were made from it.
This is interesting! Only after the discovery of synthetic thickeners did humanity stop exterminating sperm whales.
Behavior and lifestyle
Every 30 minutes, sperm whales emerge from the depths to breathe in oxygen. His respiratory system differs from the system of other whales, even the jet of water released by the sperm whale is directed at an angle, and not straight. Another interesting ability of this whale is a very fast dive. Despite its low speed (10 km / h), it can take a completely vertical position above the water. This is due to the powerful muscles of the tail, with which he can stun enemies or fend off rivals.
Lifespan
The female sperm whale carries the embryo in itself for almost 16 months. Only one cub can be born at a time. This limitation is due to the size of the fetus. A newborn reaches 3 meters in length and weighs almost 950 kilograms. The first year he eats exclusively milk, this allows him to grow and develop.
Important! Before the introduction of the ban on hunting, the average age of a killed individual was 12-15 years. That is, mammals did not live up to a third of their lives.
In the second year of life, he develops teeth and can hunt other fish. Females give birth only once every 3 years. Females begin mating at the age of seven, and males at the age of 10. The average life expectancy of sperm whales is 50-60 years, sometimes up to 70 years. The female retains childbearing function up to 45 years.
Sperm Whale Size
Adult males reach 20 meters in length, and weight can reach 70 tons. Females are slightly smaller in size - the weight does not exceed 30 tons, and the length is 15 m.
Range, habitats
You can meet sea titans in almost every ocean. From cold water they try to stay away, nevertheless they are often observed in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean, the waters of the Bering Sea. Males can swim in the Southern Ocean. Females prefer warmer water, their geographical limit is Japan, Australia, California.
Sperm whale diet
Sperm whales eat meat and most often prey on cephalopods and small fish. They are looking for prey at a depth of up to 1.2 km, for large fish you can dive to a depth of 3-4 km.
This is interesting! During periods of prolonged starvation, sperm whales are saved by a huge supply of fat, which is consumed to maintain energy.
They can also eat carrion. Their digestive tract is able to dissolve even bones, so they never die of hunger.
Reproduction and offspring
Female sperm whales usually do not go beyond the boundaries of warm waters, so the period of mating and childbirth is not as sharply limited in them as in species whose females make constant migrations to the cold waters of both hemispheres. Sperm whales can give birth throughout the year, but most cubs are born in autumn. For the Northern Hemisphere, this occurs in early autumn. So, in the North Atlantic, a larger number of offspring are born in the period from May to November. Before the start of childbirth, females gather in a quiet zone, where conditions will favorably influence the development of offspring.
Such regions in the Pacific Ocean include the waters of Marshall Island and Bonin Island, the eastern coast of Japan, to a lesser extent, the waters of the South Kuril Islands and the Galapagos Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, the Azores, Bermuda, the coasts of the African province of Natal and Madagascar. Sperm whales live in areas of clear deep water, which are located on the leeward side of an island or reef.
In the Southern Hemisphere, mating season occurs between December and April. Females give birth far from home so that other predatory fish do not harm the offspring. Comfortable water temperature is 17-18 degrees Celsius. In April 1962
Near the island of Tristan da Cunha, rescuers observed the birth of a cub from a helicopter. Among several groups of sperm whales, which numbered 20-30 individuals. The whales took turns diving next to each other, so the water seemed cloudy.
This is interesting! To prevent the newborn from drowning, other females support him, diving under him and pushing him up.
After some time, the water acquired a reddish color, and a newborn appeared on the surface of the ocean, which immediately followed its mother. They were guarded by 4 other sperm whales, most likely also females. Eyewitnesses noted that during childbirth, the female assumed a vertical position, leaning out of the water by almost a quarter of her body length. In a newborn, the lobes of the caudal fin are folded into a tube for some time.
natural enemies
Due to their size and sharp teeth, the sperm whale does not have so many enemies. A newborn or a female who is without protection, but she will no longer risk attacking an adult male. Sharks and whales are not rivals for them. In the race for easy money and valuable trophies, humanity has driven sperm whales very close to the extinction line.
To date, hunting and trapping of these animals is prohibited and prosecuted by law.. And this did not affect the well-being of the chemical and cosmetic industries, because scientists have long since learned to synthesize lamprey substances in laboratories.
Population and species status
Reducing the sperm whale population from natural causes It is not known, but as a result of the industrial activity of mankind, these mammals suffered significant losses. Hunting with hand harpoons from sailing ships began in the first half of the 18th century. And it lasted almost 100 years, after which the whales became so small that it was decided to stop hunting and fishing in order to preserve and restore the population. And it worked.
The sperm whale population began to return to normal. But with the advent of industrial technology, the whaling fleet was formed and the industry moved to a new level. As a result, by the 60s of the 21st century, in some regions of the World Ocean, there was a sharp decrease in the number of these mammals. This situation upset the balance of ocean fauna due to a shift in the food chain.
sperm whale and man
“Both man and sea animal are mammals. And to do what people have been doing for 100 years - and what else is a crime, against our smaller brothers. © Guide to the abyss. 1993
Commercial value
Hunting brought a lot of income to the industry. The Basques were doing this in the Bay of Biscay as early as the 11th century. IN North America hunting for sperm whales began in the 17th century. The main valuable element that was extracted from the bodies of sperm whales was fat. Until the middle of the 19th century, this substance was the only ingredient that satisfied all the needs of the medical industry. It has been used as a fuel for lighting fixtures, as a lubricant, as a softening solution for leather goods, and in many other processes. In most cases, fat was used to make soap and margarine. Some varieties were used in the chemical industry.
This is interesting! All cetaceans are mammals. Their ancestors once lived on land. They still have fins that look like webbed hands. But for many thousands of years, living in the water, they have adapted to such a life.
Fat was extracted mainly from individuals caught in the Arctic and Antarctic in the spring and summer, because at that time they weighed more, which means that more fat could be obtained. Almost 8,000 liters of fat mass were extracted from one sperm whale. In 1946, a special international committee for the protection of sperm whales was created. He is engaged in population support and population control. Despite all efforts, this did not help to save the situation, the sperm whale population tended to zero faster and faster.
IN modern world hunting does not have such a need and meaning as before. And extreme people who want to "play war" will pay a fine or even go to jail. In addition to sperm whale fat, very tasty meat, and fertilizers are made from bone tissue. Ambergris is also extracted from their bodies - a very valuable substance that is produced in their intestines. It is used to make perfume. The sperm whale tooth is valued as highly as ivory.
Human danger
The sperm whale is the only whale species that can swallow a human whole without chewing.. However, despite the large number of fatal cases when hunting for sperm whales, these whales, apparently, very rarely swallowed people who fell into the water. The only more or less confirmed case (it is even documented by the British Admiralty) occurred in 1891 near the Falkland Islands.
Fact! A sperm whale crashed a boat from the British whaling schooner Zvezda Vostok, one sailor died while the other, harpooner James Bartley, went missing and was also presumed dead.
The sperm whale that sank the boat was killed a few hours later; butchering his carcass continued all night. By morning, the whalers, having reached the insides of the whale, found James Bartley, who was unconscious, in his stomach. Bartley survived, though not without health consequences. His hair fell out on his head, and his skin lost its pigment and remained white as paper. Bartley had to leave whaling, but he was able to make good money showing himself at fairs as a man who had been in the belly of a whale like the biblical Jonah.
In the waters of the oceans you can meet amazing animals of colossal size. One of them is a predatory sperm whale. Unlike fellow plankton eaters, this giant has sharp teeth and is not averse to profiting from fish. Therefore, it belongs to the order of toothed whales.
You can meet sea giants in almost every ocean. They try to stay away from too icy water, but still they are often observed in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean, the depths of the Bering Sea. Fearless males sometimes visit the Southern Ocean. Females prefer warmer water, their territorial limit is Japan, Australia, California.
Height and weight of the sperm whale
Growing up, males reach a length of 20 meters, and weigh up to 70 tons. Females are inferior in size - their weight does not exceed 30 tons, and their length is 15 m.
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The appearance of the sperm whale
The sperm whale looks interesting and peculiar. First of all, their disproportionately large head attracts attention to itself; it makes up a third of the entire body. The bulkiness of the head section is especially noticeable in profile. Looking at the front, the head seems to flatten and become narrower, turning into the muzzle. The anterior section reaches its largest size in an adult male.
It can be erroneously imagined that the brain also reaches a large size. However, in reality, everything is quite the opposite - the brain of a sperm whale is of small size, and almost the entire cranium contains spongy tissue with a lot of fat. By extracting a spongy substance, a person processes it to obtain spermaceti - a substance with a wax base. Before the development of the chemical industry, creams, ointments, and suppositories were made on the basis of this composition. After the cessation of spermaceti production, sperm whales ceased to be exterminated so massively.
What does a sperm whale eat?
Sperm whales are carnivorous and most often prey on cephalopods and various fish. The search for prey takes place at a depth of up to 1.2 km, sometimes the sperm whale tracks down attractive prey, plunging to 3 km.
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How sperm whales swim, speed
Every half an hour, the sperm whale rises from the depths to breathe. It can be easily distinguished from other whales - the elastic high fountain of water emitted during breathing is not vertical, but inclined. This toothed whale is an excellent diver and excellent jumper. Above the water surface, it can appear at full length, it also knows how to take a vertical position in the water. But the giants are in no hurry to move, their average speed is 10 km / h.
These mammals live in large herds. There are up to 15 females per male. Sometimes herds unite, and a large group moves and forages together. Immature males are forced to create their own group - they are not interesting for females.
Lifespan of a sperm whale
The female carries the fetus for 18 months. Only one baby is born. At the time of birth, its weight is about a ton, and its body length does not exceed 3 meters. For the first year, the mother feeds the baby with milk. During this period, a small sperm whale approximately doubles in size and acquires teeth. Females give birth only once every 3 years. The reproductive age of the female is 7 years, the male is not earlier than 10 years. The average life expectancy of sperm whales is 50-60 years, sometimes up to 70 years. The female is capable of reproduction up to 45-50 years.
| whales | ||
| Suborder | Mustachioed (toothless) | Toothed |
| sexual dimorphism | Females are larger than males | Males are larger than females |
| Lifestyle | Often solitary, small herds | Herd, herds of hundreds and thousands of individuals |
| Method of getting food | As if they “graze”, filtering food through a whalebone | They hunt in herds, chasing and swallowing prey |
| Get food | At a depth of 100-200 m | At a depth of 1000 m |
| Are eating | Small crustaceans, small fish | Cephalopods (including giant squid), large fish, some sharks |
| Habitat | The whole world's oceans love cold waters | Thermophilic, in cold waters you will not meet |
| Dimensions | Length up to 33 m, weight up to 190 tons | Length up to 20 m, weight up to 50 tons |
| Movement speed | 20-50km/h | 10-35km/h |
| Head | proportional to the body | Giant head - 35% of the body, rectangular |
| Jaws | The lower jaw is larger than the upper, horny plates instead of teeth | The upper jaw is larger than the lower jaw, the jaws are seated with 20-26 pairs of teeth. |
| Immersion depth | up to 500 m | Up to 3.5 km |
| Located under water | 10-40 min | 1.5 h |
| Fountain | Flat up to 15m in height | Angled 45° |
| Sounds emitted | Trumpet hum when steam is released | crackling, clicking, groaning |
| Migration | From year to year they migrate at the same time along the same route, return to the same places | Do not follow the behavioral pattern of seasonal migrations |
| Migration Speed | Up to 30 km/h | 10 km/h |
| Coloring | Solid, shadow, spotted | Dark gray with a blue tint, available in dark brown and black |
| Skin | Smooth | wrinkled |
| Echolocation apparatus | The concave bones of the skull and the fatty layer form a sound lens and reflector | Junk |
| On a surface | Rise up for air | They can completely jump out of the water, sometimes they emerge and stand vertically in the thickness |
| Dream | Sleep with one hemisphere, so as not to drown | They sleep vertically, like floats, do not sink, deep uninterrupted sleep up to 12 minutes |
| reproduction | From 3-5 years old, puberty from 12 years old | Sexual maturity of males 23-25 years, females - 15-17 years |
| Pregnancy | 7-18 months | 16-17 months |
| fed with milk | Up to 4-7 months | 1 year |
Sperm whale- This is one of the representatives of the order of cetaceans. It is one of the largest toothed whales known to science. The size of the toothed whale sperm whale very impressive!
sperm whale underwater
The males of these giants reach up to 18-20 meters in length and can weigh up to 45-50 tons, and females - up to 13 meters. A characteristic feature of sperm whales is that females and males differ from each other in many ways that are not characteristic of whales. Such as:
- Dimensions;
- number of teeth;
- Head shape.
The appearance and lifestyle of the sperm whale
The appearance of this mammal may seem intimidating. A huge body, a square head and a blunt skull - make it a kind of monster of the ocean. By the way, the head of a whale occupies exactly 1/3 of the entire body! When viewed from the side, it will resemble a rectangle.
The main structural feature of the sperm whale's head is the presence of a spermaceti sac. This bag consists of spermocetus - a waxy substance, which is identical in composition to animal fat.
The mouth of the sperm whale is located at the bottom of the head. On the lower jaw of a mammal there are about 26 pairs of identical conical teeth (each tooth weighs 1 kilogram), and on the upper jaw there are only 1-3 pairs.
toothed whale sperm whale
The eyes of the sperm whale are quite large, which is not typical for whales. Its body is thick and almost round in section, it narrows only closer to the caudal region. On the back of the whale there is only 1 fin, which is usually followed by several humps.
skin sperm whale wrinkled and all in folds. At first glance, it may seem that he is covered with wrinkles. Their skin color is different, but mostly dark gray, sometimes with a brown or even blue tint.
Rarely met white whales sperm whales. The size of the sperm whale is awesome. On average, individuals grow 15 meters in size. Sperm whales usually live in flocks, occasionally you can meet an individual - alone. Sometimes you can meet groups - males who lead a bachelor lifestyle.
It is interesting to know that individuals in such groups are almost all the same size. These mammals communicate with each other using three sounds:
- Click;
- Crack;
- Moan.
But if the sperm whale is stranded, then it will reverberate loudly, as if sensing danger. The voice of these whales, like that of all the rest, is very loud and can reach 115 decibels (louder than the sound of an airliner).
white sperm whale
Sperm Whale Habitat
The sperm whale spends almost its entire life at great depths. Its habitat is spread over all the oceans, except for the cold polar waters. These mammals rarely approach the shore, only if they fall into deep depressions. Usually found at a depth of 200 meters.
Sperm whales are migratory. In summer, they like to live closer to the poles, and in winter - to the equator. Most often they can be found in the waters of South Africa, as well as Chile and Peru. Female sperm whales are found only in waters where the temperature does not fall below 15-17 degrees.
The sperm whale is considered rather slow compared to its counterparts and migrates at a speed of about 10 km / h. The sperm whale loves to dive to great depths. Cases were recorded when he dived to a depth of about 3000 meters. The pressure of the water does not harm the whale at all, because its body is almost entirely composed of fat.
The habitat of sperm whales is clearly divided between groups of these animals. It is rare that whales living near the Hawaiian Islands move towards the Gulf of Mexico and vice versa.
Nutrition and reproduction of sperm whales
The sperm whale is a predator, like all other whales. The main diet includes squids of large sizes. Although sometimes he can eat and. Cephalopods make up almost 95% of the total diet of whales. The sperm whale food chain is located at a depth of 500 meters, so it has practically no competitors.
The sperm whale is busy with the feeding process almost all the time. Even during migration, this mammal does not stop eating. There were cases when the remains of ships, clothes and even stones were found in the stomachs of this giant!
The sperm whale absorbs all food with the help of tongue movements. He does not chew his prey, but swallows it whole. If it turns out to be very large, then the whale can break it into several pieces.
Mature individual toothed whale sperm whale considered to be 5 years of age. Males of these mammals basically always create harems. There are about 15 females per male. During mating, whales become extremely aggressive. Males fight each other and inflict serious injuries.
sperm whale head
The female bears the baby from 15 to 18 months. The cub is always born alone, the length of which is 3-4 meters. The mother feeds the baby with milk for up to a year. All this time he stays close to her.
She is his excellent defense against large predators. It is also easier for the cub to follow its mother at great depths, as if she cuts through the water column and the cub does not need to make efforts and overcome pressure.
In the future, the cub remains in the group, but feeds on its own. First, small fish, and from 2-3 years old it switches to the standard diet of an adult. Sperm whales live on average 50-60 years.
At an advanced age, males often depart from their group and wander alone. The only enemy of this whale are herds of killer whales, which often attack lone sperm whales.
Female sperm whale with young offspring
The main differences between a whale and a sperm whale
There are a number of differences between a whale and a sperm whale:
- body structure;
- Presence of teeth
- Size difference between females and males;
- A sperm whale, unlike a whale, can completely swallow a person;
- different diet;
- Movement speed;
- Diving depth.
sperm whales and man
Judging by the photo on the Internet and pictures in books, whale sperm whale- a ferocious beast that is terrible to man. Actually it is not! Even being a predator, this mammal does not consider human flesh as food. But there are situations when a person in the open ocean finds himself near a sperm whale.
In this case, it is better for a person to quietly sail away. As soon as the whale starts to eat, the water column, along with the fish, goes to his mouth and a person can simply get there by accident.
But cases have been recorded when sperm whales broke and overturned small vessels. This can happen during the mating season when the whales are especially aggressive. A person should not be afraid of sperm whales, but it is better to stay away!