Sperm Whale: a unique animal that has no equal (7 photos)

Sometimes he is very gallant, and sometimes in a fit of rage, he starts kill everyone. People do not get tired of being amazed by sperm whales.





Terrible, but in the relatively recent past of sperm whales (as, however, other whales) were exterminated by whalers. In the 20th century, their numbers was seriously reduced, because annually whalers killed at least 10 thousand individuals. Fortunately, since 1985 hunting for any cetaceans and their population is slowly but recovering. Estimated specialists are not in danger of disappearing.



Sperm whales are large and strong, so they could often give due rebuff to whalers: they sank their boats - according to official data the giants sank three sailing schooners, but in reality, most likely more. After all, in those days whaling ships were small and light, so it was not difficult for an angry animal to start a fight with hunters. They sometimes won, so whaling was considered a business dangerous and difficult.





In terms of diving depth, these animals hold the record among cetaceans and can descend to 2000 meters, which is much more than the lowest blue whale dive mark. sperm whale can hold your breath for 70-90 minutes while looking for prey in the ocean depths.

A special spermaceti bag helps him, which located in the head - it becomes heavy when you need to dive and, respectively, lighter when floating.



Despite outward calmness, these animals can sometimes attack other cetaceans. They have very powerful teeth that can be compare with the teeth of extinct dinosaur predators. And they are few of them use, preferring to swallow the prey immediately and whole, that is, it is in his stomach while still alive. The diet of sperm whales includes mostly shellfish, and sometimes they can prey on giant squid, inferior to them in size only 2-3 times. By the way, once an animal swallowed the man whole. He sank a whaling boat and swallowed sailor James Bartley. Having overcome the sperm whale, the hunters butchered the carcass and found your friend there. The sailor was unconscious and wounded, but alive. survive James Bartley survived, but seriously deteriorated his health.



Throughout life, the sperm whale continues to grow, but with growth slows down with age. It is still not known exactly how many live, but the oldest recorded sperm whale was 77 years old. And here they always sleep only upright and this is an unusual sight. In a dream sperm whales, both hemispheres are completely turned off and they doze for only 10-15 minutes.



The brain of a sperm whale weighs 7.5-8 kg. Animal kidneys - 400 kg each, and the liver - about a ton. At the same time, hearts are slightly heavier than 150 kg, which is much smaller than that of the blue whale. Its lungs are twice as small, than other whales and scientists still can't figure out where it comes from air to stay under water for so long, despite the fact that the sperm whale has one overgrown nostril.



Unfortunately, sperm whales are not very picky about food and often can swallow completely inedible objects. For their population Pollution of the seas and oceans with plastic is a big threat. Scientists link population decline (despite the fact that they have long been forbidden to hunt) with this.