kanaloa

Sperm Whale

Sperm Whale

(Physeter catodon)

Of all the living toothed whales, the Spergi-. Whale, or Cachalot, is the largest and probably most widely distributed . Females and calves are found the year round in tropical waters, but old males in summer travel to or beyond the latitude of the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica on the south and Iceland and the Bering Sea on the north.
Before 1800, American whalers were going to the Pacific Ocean on sperm whaling voyages lasting two to three years. Spermaceti, a whitish, oily substance found in an enormous reservoir in the Sperm Whale's head, was valued for making clear-burning candles.
Male Sperm Whales grow considerably larger than females, the greatest known length being 65 feet. They are a uniform gray or dark bluish gray, with several shallow ridges on back and flanks. The relatively narrow, slender lower jaws are furnished with 20 to 30 heavy teeth .
The Sperm Whale calf, which measures 13 to 14 feet at birth, is suckled by the mother at least 6 months and is weaned after attaining a length of 21 or 22 feet. The female, when suckling her calf, floats on her side, while the calf, which is thus enabled to breathe normally at the surface, takes the protruded nipple in the corner of its mouth.
Sperm Whales live 8 or 9 years. Requiring a ton of food a day, they feed principally on squids and octopuses, as indicated by circular scars on the head and jaws left by the suckers and claws of these cuttlefish.
In "sounding," or diving, the Sperm Whale lifts its caudal flukes high in the air and goes down almost vertically. On coming to the surface after a dive of from 20 to 30 minutes, the instant the end of the snout breaks the water the low, bushy spout bursts forth, directed diagonally forward. Following a prolonged submergence, the Sperm Whale makes about 40 shallow dives. It swims at about four knots, but when frightened can triple this speed.

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