Sperm whale whaleing

The byproducts of whale-oil refinement also made their way into soap. The killer whales employed a tail outward and tail-slapping defensive position against the bull sperm whale similar to that used by female sperm whales against attacking killer whales. By the early s, commercial whalers had hunted Atlantic right whales to the brink of extinction. Their flukes are triangular. Another valuable commodity was ambergris , a substance found in the intestines of sperm whales that was, and still is, used to make perfume, including the luxury fragrance Chanel No. Can we save them? Archived from the original on 13 June

Parvorder Odontoceti Toothed whales cont. Sperm whale oil was still in use in automobile transmission cooling units in the United States in the s. Particularly massive sperm whale specimens have also proven willing on rare occasions to attack comparably sized whaleships. How You Can Help. Categories : Sperm whales Types of whaling. Females become fertile at around 9 years of age. These substances found a variety of commercial applications, such as candles , soap , cosmetics , machine oil, other specialised lubricants, lamp oil, pencils, crayons, leather waterproofing, rust-proofing materials and many pharmaceutical compounds.

October We use the genetic data to determine patterns of relatedness within groups of sperm whales encountered at sea. For some time researchers have been aware that pods of sperm whales may sleep for short periods, assuming a vertical position with their heads just below or at the surface. The sperm whale respiratory system has adapted to cope with drastic pressure changes when diving. Other river dolphins.