Sperm Whale
Tagged: animal, cat, fish, mammalPhyseter macrocephalus 
The extraordinary-looking sperm whale is something of a mystery. It has been hunted on and for 3 00 years for its oil, but is now protected. The true extent of the damage done to the world’s sperm whale population by hunting may never be known. The sperm whale is a record breaker in more ways than one. Not only is it the world’s largest living carnivorous animal, it also has the largest brain of any creature and is the deepest diving mammal. Thanks largely to the American author Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick (1851), it is also one of the best-known whales. Sperm whales were first hunted in the early 18th century. What is striking about the original hunt is that, despite the huge danger and expense of hunting whales, so much of the animal was wasted. The meat, skin, and most of the bones were considered virtually worthless. Valuable Products One of the most valuable sperm whale products was ambergris, a gray, waxy substance that lines the whale’s intestines. Its function may be to protect the animal from the bites of squid and other prey. Ambergris was widely used by the perfume industry as a fixative that helped perfumes retain their scent. Ironically, it is not necessary to kill the whales to get the ambergris, since lumps of it can be found floating in the sea or washed ashore, having been coughed up or excreted by the whales.
Today many perfume makers use artificial fixatives, so this strange substance is worth much less. Carved or decorated sperm whale teeth called scrimshaw can fetch a high price, but their value is more related to the quality of craftsmanship than the ivory itself. The true value of a dead sperm whale was always its oil. Gallons of oil could be extracted by melting down the sperm whale’s blubber. In large individuals the blubber sometimes forms a layer under the skin up to 12 inches (30 cm) thick. The oil was used as a lubricant and in ointments and cosmetics. An additional 500 gallons (1,900 liters) of oil could be harvested from the spermaceti organ in a single whale’s huge head. This was especially valuable since it was fine enough to be used to lubricate delicate machinery. It could also be turned into wax for making high-quality candles that burned cleanly with little soot. Spermaceti candles were popular in the late 1 8th and early 19th centuries, but were eventually replaced by kerosene lamps. A Change in Hunting Practice The sperm-whaling industry eventually declined. For almost a century the whales were not disturbed, and the world population stabilized. If hunting had not resumed in about 1930, it is estimated that there could be more than 3 million sperm whales in the world today. The modern method of hunting is far more intensive. It peaked in the 1960s and 1970s, when 20,000 to 30,000 whales were slaughtered each year, five times as many as in the early 19th century.
Although hunting is now banned, scientists still argue about the damage it actually did. Estimates of the current sperm whale population vary enormously, from just 200,000 to over one and a half million. One effect of hunting has been a shift in the sex ratio. Being much bigger, male sperm whales have always been targeted more than females. By the 1980s, when whaling ceased, there were more than twice as many females as males. It is feared that the imbalance may have led to increased inbreeding, which will damage the gene pool. DATA PANEL Sperm whale (spermaceti whale, cachalot) Physeter macrocephalus
- Family: Physeteridae
- World population: Estimates vary from 200,000 to 1.5 million
- Distribution: Global; in all the world’s oceans and many adjoining seas
- Habitat: Mostly deep ocean
- Size: Length: 36-60 ft (11-19 m). Weight, 17-55 tons (15-50 tonnes); males larger and up to 3 times heavier than females
- Diet: Mostly squid; some octopus and fish including sharks
- Breeding: Single young born in fall after gestation of 14-16 months; weaned at 2 years; female first breeds at 8-13 years, male at 25-27 years due to social hierarchy. Life span up to 77 years
- Form: Large whale with vast, boxlike head up to one third of total length. Single S-shaped blowhole on lefthand-side of snout; skin dark bluishgray, fading with age; often wrinkled and covered in scars; white markings around mouth. Body tapers from head to tail. Teeth only in lower jaw
- Related endangered species: No close relatives, but various dolphins and other toothed whales are threatened, including vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus)
The sperm whale gets its name from the oil filled organ in its head-the spermaceti. No one is sure what the spermaceti does, but it may be used in the control of buoyancy or the production of sound.
sperm whale at 2900 feet
[...] in the late 19th century was difficult and dangerous; but by targeting the largest of the great whales, the whalers could reap enormous profits. Hunting for blue whales began in the North Atlantic; but [...]