sperm whale

16 Stories

Sperm Whales Employ a Stinky Defense Against Orcas

Witnesses saw the whales use an enormous cloud of poop to fend off attack

(Newser) - Orcas have been known to pick fights with everything from sharks to yachts , but a pod in Western Australia recently learned the hard way that they should really leave sperm whales alone. Off the state's southern coast, viewers on a whale-watching tour following the orcas realized the creatures were...

Beached Sperm Whale Off Florida Couldn't Be Saved

The 44-foot male appeared underweight

(Newser) - A sperm whale that became famous after beaching itself on a sandbar along Florida's Gulf Coast died Monday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement. As the AP reports, police and wildlife officials began trying to free the male whale from the shallow sandbar off...

One of Our Biggest Mammals Finally Gets a Sanctuary

Caribbean island of Dominica preserves about 300 square miles for nearly 3 dozen whale families

(Newser) - The tiny Caribbean island of Dominica is creating the world's first marine-protected area for one of Earth's largest animals: the endangered sperm whale. Nearly 300 square miles of royal blue waters on the western side of the island nation that serve as key nursing and feeding grounds will...

'Whale Vomit' Inside Beached Whale Is Worth $550K
Scientist Probes Whale's
Cause of Death, Finds
a Weird Treasure
in case you missed it
Jul 9, 2023 7:23 AM CDT

Scientist Probes Whale's Cause of Death, Finds a Weird Treasure

Ambergris, produced by just 1% of sperm whales, is highly desired by perfumers

(Newser) - Suspecting a beached sperm whale's death was caused by a digestive problem, a Canary Islands scientist investigated ... and discovered nearly $550,000 worth of so-called "floating gold" inside the doomed animal. Ambergris—also called by the somewhat less appealing nickname " whale vomit "—is a waxy...

Scientists Surprised to Learn Whales Use 'Vocal Fry'

The marine mammals use it to help them find prey deep underwater

(Newser) - That low, rattling vocal register known as vocal fry—the Washington Post points to Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry as two examples of celebrities who have such gravelly voices—has proven a polarizing topic, with some insisting it's sexy, while others call it grating. But while the appeal of...

More Dead Whales Are Turning Up on West Coast

At least 5 since mid-May, off of California and Canadian coasts

(Newser) - Scientists are probing the unexplained deaths of a fourth and fifth whale on the US and Canadian west coasts since mid-May. "Spike," a young female humpback first documented by scientists in 2018, was found washed ashore near Vancouver Island on Sunday, just a day after a male humpback...

It's Been 50 Years Since Highway Workers Blew Up a Whale
They Blew Up a Dead Whale.
It Didn't Go as Expected
in case you missed it
Nov 15, 2020 1:00 PM CST

They Blew Up a Dead Whale. It Didn't Go as Expected

'For the blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds'

(Newser) - Oregon is celebrating a special anniversary on Thursday: the 50-year commemoration of when highway workers there blew up a dead whale. Per the Willamette Week , a 45-foot, 8-ton sperm whale washed up on the shores of Florence in late 1970, and on Nov. 12, the state's highway division decided...

New Study Claims the Sun May Have Caused 29 Whales to Die

Researchers say changes to Earth's magnetic field may be to blame

(Newser) - In the first weeks of 2016, 29 sperm whales were found stranded and dead off the coasts of Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Germany, the BBC reports. The whales had been generally healthy, and scientists were confounded as to what had caused them to enter the dangerously shallow waters of...

Gross Find Will Make 3 Fishermen Very Rich
Gross Find Will Make
3 Fishermen Very Rich
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nov 13, 2016 7:33 AM CST

Gross Find Will Make 3 Fishermen Very Rich

They roped in a huge chunk of whale vomit in Oman

(Newser) - Three fisherman in Oman have found 176 pounds of precious ambergris—a substance that is essentially whale vomit but highly prized by the perfume industry. Seeker reports that the ambergris could be worth as much as $2.8 million. "I’ll wait to see how this sale will go...

Today's Sperm Whales Descended From One 'Eve'

An ancient whale appears to be the mother of all modern sperm whales

(Newser) - While investigating samples of toxic levels of heavy metals found in sperm whales, researchers stumbled upon a surprising discovery: All of today's sperm whales appear to have descended from the same female, reports Hakai magazine. They've named her Eve and say she lived between 10,000 and 80,...

Scientists Answer Weird Question About Moby Dick

Yes, sperm whales could batter a ship with their heads

(Newser) - A multinational team of researchers set out to settle what has oddly been a longstanding dispute in scientific circles: whether, in Moby Dick-esque fashion, sperm whales could use their heads to bash seagoing vessels. And it seems that Herman Melville got it right. Writing in the journal PeerJ , researchers concluded...

Diver Caught in Whale 'Poonado'

Cloud of feces was 100 feet in diameter

(Newser) - As octopuses shoot out ink as a defense mechanism, so sperm whales blast threats with poop. At least that's the theory explained by a diver to the BBC . Keri Wilk and three fellow divers were engulfed in what he describes as a "poonado" let loose by one such...

How to Move a Whale Carcass
 How to Move a Whale Carcass 
Jan 18, 2014 8:00 AM CST

How to Move a Whale Carcass

City of Edinburgh had to solve the problem in a hurry

(Newser) - Officials in Edinburgh, Scotland, faced a vexing question this week: What do you do with a dead 30-ton whale that washes up on a beach—near a hotel, no less—and begins stinking up the city? The answer involves a crane, a big truck, a landfill, and some unusual images,...

Whale Explodes All Over Researcher

Trapped gas inside causes biologist to get doused in gunk

(Newser) - Doesn't it just suck when you're trying to slice open a dead sperm whale, and it ends up exploding right in your face? That's what happened to biologist Bjarni Mikkelsen in Denmark's Faroe Islands this week, the New York Daily News reports. What was Mikkelsen doing...

Dead Whale Found South of Oil Spill

It's still unclear if the oil caused the death

(Newser) - A dead sperm whale has been found floating 77 miles south of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It's not yet clear whether exposure to oil caused the animal's death, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is conducting tests. The whale was found yesterday, but its...

New, Giant Oil Plume Found in Gulf

Scientists believe cleanup chemicals to blame

(Newser) - Just when the Gulf of Mexico thought the hurting had stopped, marine scientists have discovered a huge new undersea oil cloud drifting toward Alabama. Hydrocarbon readings confirm that the plume, which starts near the blown-out well and is 6 miles wide and 22 miles long, is not naturally occurring. It's...

16 Stories