Asked by: Lucrecia Etxeandia
medical health bone and joint conditions

How far do sperm whales migrate?

41
Sperm Whale Migration. Female sperm whales travel in groups with their young, circling the oceans to find food, they may travel a million miles in a lifetime. Inhabiting warmer waters than the males who thrive in the Arctic, they must meet up in the middle near the Azores.


Similarly one may ask, how far do sperm whales travel?

Sperm whales are known to dive as deep as 3,280 feet in search of squid to eat. These giant mammals must hold their breath for up to 90 minutes on such dives.

One may also ask, where do sperm whales live? Sperm whales live in every ocean in the world but stay away from the extremely cold waters near the polar ice in the north and the south. Females usually remain in temperate and tropical waters within 45-55° latitude, whereas males travel in temperate waters.

Also, what time of year do sperm whales migrate?

From time to time they migrate toward lower latitudes, and only the largest mature males appear to enter the breeding grounds close to the equator. Females, calves, and juveniles remain in the warmer tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans year round.

How do sperm whales move?

Sperm whale "flukes" move up and down as the animals swim. The sperm whale's flippers, or pectoral fins, help the animal maneuver through water. Echolocation: Producing sound and interpreting its echoes helps sperm whales "see" their underwater environment and effectively hunt for deepwater prey such as giant squid.

Related Question Answers

Suqin Castillero

Professional

Is lip gloss whale sperm?

However, the word "sperm" in sperm whale comes from the word spermaceti, an organ found in the whale's head. Lip gloss can be made from a number of ingredients. Whale blubber/lard/fat used to be used in cosmetics years ago. Current day lip balm products range in what they contain.

Magda Llarena

Professional

What is whale sperm used for?

Ambergris has been mostly known for its use in creating perfume and fragrance much like musk. Perfumes can still be found with ambergris. It is collected from remains found at sea and on beaches, although its precursor originates from the sperm whale, which is a vulnerable species.

Houston Turney

Professional

Can a sperm whale click kill you?

In air, the sperm whale would still be extremely loud, but significantly less so — 174 decibels. That's roughly equivalent to the decibel levels measured at the closest barometer, 100 miles away from the Krakatoa eruption, and is loud enough to rupture people's ear drums.

Nadaya Vaarandi

Explainer

Can you get pregnant from whale sperm?

Male sperm whales do not create harems of females like other animals. The sperm whale pregnancy term lasts about 15 months, resulting in a single calf.

Lubica Maessen

Explainer

How much of the ocean is whale sperm?

The average blue whale produces over 400 gallons of sperm when it ejaculates, but only 10% of that actually makes it into his mate. So 360 gallons are spilled into the ocean every time one unloads, and you wonder why the ocean is so salty

Joana Isenbugel

Explainer

Would a sperm whale eat a human?

The only whale that would likely be capable of swallowing a human would be a toothed whale, the sperm whale, which eats prey such as giant squid. A sperm whale did ram and sink the whale ship Essex in 1820, but there are no reliable reports of a sperm whale ever eating a human.

Jialin Pablos

Pundit

Why do they call them sperm whales?

Etymology. The name sperm whale is a truncation of spermaceti whale. Spermaceti, originally mistakenly identified as the whales' semen, is the semi-liquid, waxy substance found within the whale's head (see below).

Esperança Sibbers

Pundit

Are sperm whales dangerous?

Sperm whales do not have many predators, killer whales (orcas) are known to have attacked sperm whales and occasionally sharks; but since the early 1700s by a large the most serious predator of sperm whales has been homo sapiens.

Serxio Nava

Pundit

Do whales sleep?

Observations of bottlenose dolphins in aquariums and zoos, and of whales and dolphins in the wild, show two basic methods of sleeping: they either rest quietly in the water, vertically or horizontally, or sleep while swimming slowly next to another animal.

Branko Hauptstein

Pundit

Where do whales give birth?

Humpbacks migrate from Alaska to Hawaii during the fall. They spend their winters in these warmer waters, mating and giving birth before returning to their northern feeding grounds.

Seham Moris

Pundit

How do whales know where to go?

Magnetic Migrations
Many researchers believe that whales and other migrating animals have a magnetic sense that helps them know which direction they're moving. Scientists know that a substance called biomagnitite helps many birds migrate by making them sensitive to changes in the earth's magnetic field.

Lua Schikendanz

Teacher

Where do whales give birth in Australia?

Southern right whales are similar to humpbacks in that they feed in Antarctica in the summer and then migrate north to Australia to breed and give birth (especially in southern corners of Australia, around the Great Australian Bight).

Abbass Siverio

Teacher

Do humpback whales eat during migration?

The adult whales feed on krill in polar regions during the summer, but do not eat throughout the winter when they are migrating, calving, and breeding—instead subsisting on their fat stores, known as blubber. Migration can cover 6,000 miles.

Solomon Alypov

Teacher

Why do whales migrate to Australia?

Southern Hemisphere humpback whales migrate north each winter from their Southern Ocean feeding grounds to warmer waters to mate and calve. Read about the 'Group V' humpbacks that migrate along Australia's eastern coastline to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

Idafe Holtfoth

Teacher

Do whales have big brains?

The fact is, people do not have the largest brains on the planet, either in absolute size or in proportion to body size. Whales, not people, have the biggest brains of any animal on earth.

Kathe Riosalido

Reviewer

How long can a sperm whale hold its breath?

Sperm whales make some of the longest dives achieved by mammals, with some lasting up to 90 minutes, while dolphins and other whales can stay underwater for 20 minutes. The longest time a human has held their breath for under water is 19 minutes – set by a Swiss freediver called Peter Colat.

Dharma Nigel

Reviewer

How far do whales travel in a day?

How far do the Southern Resident pods travel? Southern Resident Killer Whales travel an average of 75 miles (120 kilometers) a day.

Perry Wuff

Reviewer

Are sperm whales aggressive?

Cumbaa: Sperm whales are pretty unique. They grew to very large sizes and they're certainly aggressive. They're the largest toothed whale. They're not as sharp, but their teeth are Tyrannosaurus Rex-sized.

Fanny Gorocitu

Reviewer

Can sperm whales see?

Sperm whales have disproportionately small eyes so it is thought that they do not see particularly well. In fact, blind sperm whales have been captured in perfect health with food in their stomachs. Sperm whale hearing abilities are not well known.

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EveryThingWhat Staff Editor

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5th May, 2020

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