Sperm+Whale

By Elizabeth Akaronu

//**Other Names**//: common cachalot **//Common Name//**: toothed whale **//Scientific Nam//**e: Physeter macracephalus or Physeter catodon **//Nickname//**: none //**Category**//: Mammalia
 * //Order//**: Cetacea
 * //Family//**: Physeteridea
 * //Genus//**: Physeter

The Sperm Whale is the largest of the toothed whales that live in pods. The whale was named after the milky-white substance spermaceti found in its head and originally mistaken for sperm.The skin color ranges from dark gray to black, but is occasionally light gray.

They feed on giant squids, octopus, fishes, skates & sharks. //**Favorite Food**//: Squids //**Breeding**//: The gestation period is over 16 months and the calf is born tail first near the surface of the water. The newborn instinctively swims to the surface within 10 seconds for its first breath; it is helped by its mother. Within 30 minutes of its birth the baby whale can swim. On average,a female will give birth to about 7-10 calves. The baby is nurtured with its mother's milk and is weaned in about 2 years.

Countries & Continents they are located in include all oceans of the world. They live at the surface but they dive as deep as 3,280 ft.(1,000 meters) in search of squid to eat. They can also hold their breath for an hour. From time to time they migrate toward lower latitudes whiles female calves and juveniles remain in the warmer tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean year round. They DO NOT hibernate. Sperm whales tend to inhabit areas with a water depth of 1968 feet (600 m) or more, and are uncommon in waters less than 984 feet (300 m) deep.

Predators or interspecies relationships: 
 * The greatest natural predators to sperm whales are killer whales.
 * Large sharks may also be a threat, especially for young sperm whales.
 * Commercial Whaling: hunted because of their large amount of sperm oil to be used in making animal feed, industrial oils, fertilizer, perfume, soap, shampoo, gelatine and margarine.
 * Sperm whales were killed in two massive hunts, the //Moby Dick// whalers who worked mainly between 1740-1880, and the modern whalers whose operations peaked in 1964, when 29,255 were killed.
 * shipping and fishing operations, for instance ship strikes and entanglements in fishing gear.

Steps taken to protect the species
 * The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was established in 1946 to manage the dwindling stocks of whales.
 * Counting whales: it would be easy to hunt a species of whale to the point of extinction because whales mature slowly and do not reproduce quickly.


 * Despite the international ban, or moratorium, on commercial whaling, many whale populations have not recovered and are still endangered due to other threats including entanglements with fishing gear, degradation of habitat and collisions with ships.

[] [] [] [] []

[] [] [] [] [] []