Sperm Whale

They are named after the waxy substance—spermaceti—found in their heads. The spermaceti is an oil sac that helps the whales focus on sound. Spermaceti was used in oil lamps, lubricants, and candles. Sperm whales were a primary target of the commercial whaling industry from 1800 to 1987, which nearly decimated all sperm whale populations.

The name did not come from sperm cells.

Sperm whales are mostly dark gray, though some have white patches on the belly. They are the only living cetacean that has a single blowhole asymmetrically situated on the left side of the crown of the head. Their heads are extremely large, accounting for about one-third of their total body length. The skin just behind the head is often wrinkled. Their lower jaw is narrow, and the portion of the jaw closest to the teeth is white. The interior of the mouth is often bright white as well. There are between 20 and 26 large teeth on each side of the lower jaw. The teeth in the upper jaw rarely break through the gums.

Sperm whale flippers are paddle-shaped and small compared to the size of the body, and their flukes are triangular. They have small dorsal fins that are low, thick, and usually rounded.

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 eat fish and squid, including giant and colossal squid that grow more than 50 feet (15 meters) long. Much of the sperm whale's life is spent under the sea, far from land, so the species largely remains a mystery. Individuals are born into groups composed of about a dozen females and their young.

Like elephants, females tend to stay together, but males leave the group as early as their fifth year. Young males form groups with others about their age. As they mature, the males break into smaller groups; older males usually live alone. The bulls tend to stay in cooler, higher latitudes, while the females remain in warmer waters. Males are ready to breed at 18 years old but don't reach full size until about 50. They return to female ranges to mate.

Coming soon

These cetaceans are found in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world, usually in pods (groups) of about 15 to 20; solitary males, however, may wander into colder regions.

Prior to whaling, sperm whales may have numbered 1.1 million worldwide, according to the American Cetacean Society.

• Movement Pattern: Full Migrant

• Individual Type: Nomadic/Pod

• Population Trend: Stable

• Population: 1.1 million

• Locomotion: Aquatic

• Habitat: Polar; Warm Intertidal; Cold Intertidal; Kelp Forest; Coral Reef; Barrier Reef; Guyot; Neritic Zone (Warm); Neritic Zone (Cold); Pelagic Zone (Warm); Pelagic Zone (Cold); Benthic Zone; Abyssal Zone.

• Earth: 

  • Extant (Resident): Albania; Algeria; Angola; Antarctica; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Australia; Bahamas; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belgium; Belize; Benin; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (Saba, Sint Eustatius, Bonaire); Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Cabo Verde; Cameroon; Canada; Chile; China; Colombia; Comoros; Costa Rica; Croatia; Curaçao; Cyprus; Denmark; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Falkland Islands (Malvinas); Faroe Islands; Fiji; France; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Gibraltar; Greece; Greenland; Grenada; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Kenya; Kiribati; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Lebanon; Liberia; Libya; Madagascar; Malaysia; Maldives; Malta; Marshall Islands; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Micronesia, Federated States of ; Monaco; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Nauru; Netherlands; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Niue; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Portugal; Russian Federation; Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin (French part); Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Samoa; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Sint Maarten (Dutch part); Slovenia; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Africa; Spain; Sri Lanka; Suriname; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan, Province of China; Tanzania, United Republic of; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Togo; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Tuvalu; United Kingdom; United States; Uruguay; Vanuatu; Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of; Viet Nam; Yemen

  • Presence Uncertain: American Samoa; Anguilla; Aruba; Bermuda; Bosnia and Herzegovina; British Indian Ocean Territory; Cambodia; Cayman Islands; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Congo; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Cook Islands; Côte d'Ivoire; Eritrea; French Guiana; French Polynesia; French Southern Territories; Germany; Guadeloupe; Guam; Hong Kong; Martinique; Mayotte; Montenegro; Montserrat; Myanmar; New Caledonia; Norfolk Island; Northern Mariana Islands; Palestine, State of; Pitcairn; Puerto Rico; Qatar; Réunion; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Saudi Arabia; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Sudan; Sweden; Tokelau; Turks and Caicos Islands; United Arab Emirates; United States Minor Outlying Islands; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.; Wallis and Futuna; Western Sahara

• Berbania: none

• Reinachos: none

• Delphia: none

• Sawintir: none

• Agarathos: none

Coming soon

Sperm whales are a lost species of cetaceans that survived for 3000+ years, along with Commerson's dolphin and harbor porpoise. They survived overexploitation and were fully protected by conservationists and the royal family.

• Coming soon

See also: none

Earth

• Tagalog: Balyenang Abo

• Maori: Tohorā parāoa

• Arabic: عنبر (Anbar)

• Hebrew: ראשתן (Roshtan)

• Japanese: マッコウクジラ/抹香鯨 (Makkōkujira)

• Korean: 향고래 (Hyang-gorae)

• Albanian: Kashalot, Kashaloti

• Greek: Φυσητήρας / Φυσητήρας (Fysitiras)

• Welsh: Morfil sberm

• Italian: Capodoglio, Cascialotto, Fisetere, Organante

• Ukrainian: Кашалот (Kašalot)

• Czech: Vorvaň obrovský, Vorvaň tuponosý

• Afrikaans: Potvis

• English: Cachelot, Catchalot, Chocolate whale, Pot whale, Sperm whale, Spermacet whale, Trompe whale, Trumpo

• Icelandic: Bùrhvalur, Tweld-hval

• Tsimshian/Sm'álgyax: Adagig, Aggadakhgik

• Greenlandic: Kegutilik, Kigitulik

• Coming soon

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_whale

• https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/41755/160983555

• https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1624.Herman_Melville

• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/sperm-whale

• https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/sperm-whale

• https://www.britannica.com/animal/sperm-whale

• https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Sperm-Whale

• http://www.sealifebase.ca/summary/Physeter-macrocephalus.html

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Sperm-Whale-Cachalot-942275068