What is the information about the sperm whale?

Sperm whale is a kind of whale, also known as giant sperm whale, Cacerat whale and so on. Sperm whale is a marine mammal of the sperm whale family. The dried product of intestinal secretion is called ambergris, which is a valuable traditional Chinese medicine. It is used to treat symptoms such as wheezing and heartache. It is widely distributed in non-frozen waters all over the world. Let's take a look at the information of sperm whales.

Morphological characteristics of sperm whale

The sperm whale is fish-like in shape, with a large head and a small lower jaw, with teeth only in the lower jaw, up to 18 meters in length and more than 50 tons in weight. The head can account for 1 / 3 of the body, no dorsal fin, strong diving ability, the deepest and longest diving mammal has a short neck, the head seems to be connected with the torso, the cervical vertebrae heal, the nostrils are spray holes, located at the end of the kiss, the forelimbs are finned, the forearms degenerate, the palms become longer, and the number of toes increases. But from the outside can not see toes and claws, hind legs degenerated, tail-like fish, with horizontal caudal fins, swimming against the tail swing.

The habitat of sperm whales

Sperm whales are widely distributed in the unfrozen waters of the world, mainly in the waters between south and north latitudes 70, especially in the deep and productive sea areas. the distribution of adult males is obviously different from that of females. Females usually inhabit waters with a depth of more than 1000 meters and latitudes within 40 degrees, but they can reach about 50 degrees north latitude in the North Pacific Ocean. Males live with their mothers in tropical waters when they are young. As they grow up, they will gradually move to higher latitudes, and the older and older the males, the higher the latitude, and even closer to the polar ice floe. Female whales and juvenile sperm whales usually stay in an area 1000 kilometers wide for at least 10 years, while adult males move much wider.

The gregarious habits of sperm whales

Sperm whales like to live in groups, often composed of a small number of male whales and large groups of female whales and young whales, which migrate from north to south every year because of reproduction and foraging, and their swimming speed is very fast, up to more than ten nautical miles per hour. moreover, sperm whales have excellent diving ability to dive to a depth of up to 2200 meters and can stay underwater for as long as two hours, because the diving time of sperm whales is very long and there is little chance to see them on the sea surface. The long-term stable herd of female whales constitutes the core unit of sperm whale society. such small groups can reach 12 adult females, accompanied by their female and young male offspring, generally swimming at a speed of 5 knots per hour and up to 7 knots when frightened. Older males 12 to 17 meters long are mostly swimming alone in the ocean, rarely finding communication lasting more than 1 day, and the whole herd of sperm whales is sometimes beached on the beach.

Feeding habits of sperm whales

Sperm whales mainly eat large squid, octopus and fish, while squid and octopus mainly eat shrimp, crabs, crustaceans and fish, consuming food equivalent to 3% to 3.5% of body weight every day. Male whales also feed on squid, but their prey is usually larger. For example, the king squid, once found in the stomach of a sperm whale, is 12 meters long and weighs 200 kilograms. There are sometimes scratches and round sucker marks on the mouth and body of the sperm whale, which may be caused by the tentacles of the gun squid when fighting with such large prey. There have been records of sucker marks up to 11 cm in diameter.

Breeding habits of sperm whales

The reproduction rate of sperm whales is slow. Female whales do not mature until they are 9 years old, while males mature longer. Adult female whales only conceive once every 4 to 6 years. Each baby whale rarely has twins and breastfeeding for as long as two years. Breeding sites are generally in tropical and subtropical waters between 40 degrees north and south latitudes. Although some mating occurs in mid-winter to summer, most of them occur in spring. In the northern hemisphere, the mating period may be from January to July, and the peak is from March to May. The mating period of sperm whales in the southern hemisphere is between August and December, concentrated in October, the pregnancy period is at least more than 1 year, and may be as long as 18 months. the lactation period of female whales is at least 2 years, sometimes longer, with a life span of about 70 years, with a maximum life span of more than 100 years.