Sperm Whales
By: Brianne Martinho
Sperm whales skin is usually dark gray to black and sometimes light gray, Sperm whales have massive heads and rounded foreheads, that is due to the fact that they have the largest brain known to have lived. Sperm whales use echolocation to catch their prey. Sperm whales dive as deep as 1,000 meters in hunt for squid to eat. This requires them to hold their breath for up to 90 minutes. (National Geographic). The sperm whale males range from 50-60 feet and females 33-40 (Enchanted Learning). This allows them to move up to 23 miles per hour. Sperm Whales typically live 60-80 years and produce few offspring with great maternal care, making them a K-selected species.
What is their habitat and location?
Sperm Whales have a global distribution in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Populations are often divided on
an ocean basin level (National Fish and Wildlife). Sperm whales live in groups called pods. The pods consist of females and their young. The males tend to live solo. Female whales take care of their young as a k-selected species and the females and calves tend to live year long in the tropical and subtropical waters together. The males travel back to higher latitudes towards the equator to mate again (National Geographic).
http://www.whales.org.au/discover/sperm/spermd.gif
Population and Listing
Sperm whales current global population is not an exact estimate due to their wide range and detection ability. The estimate is approximately 200,000 whales worldwide (Enchanted Learning). Sperm Whales were globally listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act on December 2, 1970. With the recovery plan updated and improved in December of 2010.
Main Threats
The current main threats to whales are collisions with vessels and direct harvest. It is assumed that whales are also threatened by competition for resources, loss of prey base due to climate change, and disturbance from anthropogenic noise The main threat throughout history has been whale harvesting. Sperm whales were greatly harvested for their meat, oil, and ambergris. Spermaceti is a high quality oil that sperm whales produce. Ambergris is a very valuable substance use to make perfumes. Commercial whaling was ended in 1988 with a moratorium against whaling buy the International Whaling Commission. However it is suspected that Sperm whales are still being targeted because some countries refused to implement the moratorium. There is small catch in Indonesia and and Japan for scientific purposes. There is also some evidence that Sperm whales are being illegally hunted in some parts of the world (National Fish and Wildlife).
Recovery Plan
The recovery plan's purpose is to minimize or eliminate the effects of human activities on sperm whale populations. The first actions are to identify factors that are limiting the population and cite actions needed for recovery. Next is to determine population structure of the species. This would aid in estimating an accurate population size and determining range. The recovery plan is enacted though international communication due to the wide range of Sperm whales (National Fish and Wildlife). Ensure significant threats addressed by managing commercial and direct harvest at a sustainable level, competition with fisheries are being addressed, and everything else is still being studied.
What YOU Can Do
Anyone can take into action of raising awareness of these whales. People can fight against the sport of whaling these animals. As you prepare to sail out on a boat know the migration patterns so mortality by boat is reduced. These whales prey is destroyed due to global warming. Everyone can contribute to reducing the increase in global warming by reducing their carbon footprint. The carbon footprint can decrease with less electricity, recycle, and less fossil fuels released into the air.
Fun Fact
The fictional Moby Dick was a Sperm whale (Enchanted Learning).
Works Cited
Encahanted
Learning. Sperm Whale. 1996. 2 December 2015
<http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/species/Spermwhale.shtml>.
National Fish and Wildlife. December 2010. 2 December 2015 <http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Sperm_whale_Recovery_Plan.pdf>.
National Geographic. Sperm Whale. 2 December
2015
<http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/sperm-whale/>.
Very interesting blog, I had no idea the sperm whale has the biggest brain known to have lived and I loved the inclusion of Moby Dick near the end. Overal very nice organization and thoughtful blog.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! It appears that almost all of the threats go back to global warming. I enjoyed the way you presented your information and thought it was a spectacular blog overall!
ReplyDelete#BIO227Fall2015
So interesting how long whales live and how large they become. Thanks for sharing. Such an interesting creature that should be fought for. Good read. Joy Lomax - BIO227Fall2015
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting and well structured! Crazy how they can hold their breaths up to 90 minutes! I loved reading this. nice work! #BIO227Fall2015
ReplyDelete-Jared Lazor