WHALE IDENTIFICATION - BONAVISTA & TRINITY BAYS, NEWFOUNDLAND

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SPERM WHALES

It was off the rocky shores of the Bonavista Peninsula, close to the communities of Old and New Bonaventure, that I saw my first sperm whale in July 2003. They are normally deep-sea diving creatures and may dive as deep as 2 miles to find their prey, so it has been quite surprising to see some so close to shore (see pictures).  It is especially good to see that 'Blodgett' - see details below - continues to 'hang out' in Trinity Bay - right on, Bye.

Sperm whale behaviour is still not well understood and is full of mysteries. Given the vast amounts of money spent by governments across the globe on space exploration and trying to find life on other planets, it is staggering how little the human race knows about the creatures in our own oceans which form over 70% of the Earth's surface.

First contact

Many of us have our first 'contact' with sperm whales (Latin name: Physeter macrocephalus) via the novel 'Moby Dick' by Herman Melville or at least two Hollywood film versions of that story - one starring Gregory Peck and the other, Patrick Stewart. The image of the sperm whale attacking a wooden whaling ship was also recorded in the excellent book 'In the Heart of the Sea' by Nathaniel Philbrick. However, these animals, if anything, will avoid contact with humans but may attack if they are, or feel, threatened by them. Young sperm whales (calves), like human children, are curious about anything previously unseen in their habitat.

Their name

Sperm whales were named after the spermaceti organ which is contained in their large heads and contains a waxy oil (spermaceti oil) - the original main reason why these animals were hunted. The oil was used as a lubricant and for lighting. The 10 minutes or so that these whales spent on the surface made them easy prey for harpooners. Only male sperm whales have teeth and each tooth can weigh up to a kilogram. Whalers would make drawings/carvings on the teeth of sperm whales that their ship's crew had killed - this form of art is known as scrimshaw and fetches high prices today in the world's auction rooms. Whales can live to a good age and I personally find it very hard to justify the practise of killing them with an exploding harpoon head.

Features and life info.

These whales are the biggest of the toothed whales, are the largest predators on Earth and roam all the oceans of the world. They may be the most abundant of all the great whales. Males (bulls) can grow to be in excess of 60 feet long (approx 20 metres) and to a weight in excess of 50 tons (the weight of 10 adult elephants) with flukes being around 12 feet (approx 4 metres) across from tip to tip. They tend to be greyish in colour and with 'wrinkly' skin: only a few 'white' sperm whales have been seen in the last century. The head of the animal is 1/3 of it's length and holds a very large brain, about 5 to 6 times the size of our own. Males leave the family group at about 6 years old, and from then on, lead a solitary life unless coupling with females to breed. They tend to frequent the deeper, colder waters of the world's northern and southern latitudes. It is believed that males reach sexual maturity around the age of 30 years.

Females (cows) tend to be about 2/3 the size of the bulls, around 12 metres in length, and are usually more gregarious - forming groups of between 12 and 50 animals which will disperse when feeding begins. Calves depend on their mother's milk for a year or so from birth. Females rarely stray far from their breeding and calving grounds (e.g. off Dominica in the Caribbean and the Azores in mid-Atlantic) and are visited there by the bulls who travel huge distances from their preferred hunting grounds. Dolphins will harass female sperm whales and their calves but the reason for this behaviour is not known.

These whales do not have a tall upright 'blow' like humpbacks or fins, rather it is projected slightly forward from the blowhole which is located on the left side of the large head and is quite distinctive. Unlike fins and humpbacks, sperm whales have a single blowhole. Also, they have quite small pectoral fins in comparison to their overall size.

Sperm whales have been filmed 'sleeping' when they lie perpendicularly, with their heads towards the ocean surface. They have been seen to 'sleep' at different times of the day and with their eyes closed. They will rub bodies together when socialising and, like humpback whales, indulge in breaching, spy-hopping and tail lobbing from time-to-time.

Feeding

In order to feed, these whales will hold their breath and dive into 'the Abyss' to great depths for almost an hour and then will rest on the surface for 10 minutes or so, breathing to remove the carbon dioxide from their systems. As they dive they produce a series of 'clicks', amplified by their bulbous head, which act as echo location for hunting food and to keep track of other sperm whales in the area. The 'clicks' may also be a form of individual identity recognition. 'Clicks' tend to reduce substantially or stop when the whale is returning to the surface. It has been found that sperm whales can produce the 'clicks' even with the front of their heads out of the water. 

Sperm whales have a white outline around their lower jaw which, like the same pigmentation on other parts of the body of humpback (pectorals), fin (lower right jaw) and minke whales (armbands), may assist in the food hunting process. Their favourite form of food is giant squid but they will also eat huge amounts of it's smaller relative. Often sperm whale bodies will have evidence on them (such as the round marks of suckers from the squid's tentacles) of battles with giant squid. The beaks of squid can be found in the whales' stomachs. They are careless feeders and often half digested or parts of their prey will float to the ocean's surface to be eaten by birds and smaller ocean predators.

Photo identification (i.d.)

The trailing edge of the whale's fluke has 'nicks' and tears which are permanent and the best form of identification (see sperm whale records page). Whilst photographs of the dorsal fins are always useful, it is the fluke that really matters for i.d. purposes. We are in contact with Lisa Steiner and still hope for a 'match' with her Azores whales. She also matches our images to the flukes she has from the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Sargasso Sea and some from Nova Scotia.

If you have photographs of flukes and/or dorsals, we should be grateful if you would let us have them (we will supply an e-mail address on request) - due to the pointless action of Internet lowlifes, we can no longer give our e-mail details here.  If you have many photo-images it may be quicker an easier if you let us have them on a DVD or CD - in this case, please request a mailing address from us when you see us in Newfoundland before you go home.

Please 'click' here to see our sperm whale records.

Please also note that all photographs appearing on this site appear here by the generosity, skill and enthusiasm of the individual photographers. No payment has been made by this site to them and their photographs remain their own exclusive copyright. Thanks are also due to Kris Prince, of seaofwhales.com for his skill in boat handling and his fabulous eyesight!

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Good luck in your sperm whale watching off the Bonavista peninsula.

Reg Kempen

© Whale Identification, Bonavista & Trinity Bays, Newfoundland (Unless stated otherwise)