Difference between revisions of "Sperm whale"

Sperm whale (view source)

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 The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale, with adult males measuring up to 20.5 meters (67 ft) long and weighing up to 57,000 kilograms (56 long tons; 63 short tons). By contrast, the second largest toothed whale (Baird's Beaked Whale) measures 12.8 metres (42 ft) and weighs up to 15 short tons (14,000 kg).
-Extensive [[whaling]] may have decreased their size, as males were highly sought, primarily after World War II. Today, males do not usually exceed 18.3 meters (60 ft) in length or 51,000 kilograms (50 long tons; 56 short tons) in weight. Another view holds that exploitation by overwhaling had virtually no effect on the size of the bull sperm whales, and their size may have actually increased in current times on the basis of density dependent effects.[38] Old males taken at Solander Islands were recorded to be extremely large and unusually rich in blubbers.
+Extensive [[whaling]] may have decreased their size, as males were highly sought, primarily after World War II. Today, males do not usually exceed 18.3 meters (60 ft) in length or 51,000 kilograms (50 long tons; 56 short tons) in weight. Another view holds that exploitation by overwhaling had virtually no effect on the size of the bull sperm whales, and their size may have actually increased in current times on the basis of density dependent effects. Old males taken at Solander Islands were recorded to be extremely large and unusually rich in blubbers.
 It is among the most sexually dimorphic of all cetaceans. At birth both sexes are about the same size, but mature males are typically 30% to 50% longer and three times as massive as females.