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Sperm Whale Bone Project
Collaborators:
Greg Early
In June 2002 we undertook a necropsy on a sperm whale that died on the beach at Great Point in Nantucket. Findings of significant bone lesions in certain bones lead us to compare that animal with others in museums on the US East coast. Our findings have been published in Science (2004) 306:2215. ABSTRACT TEXT The sperm whale from Nantucket that we examined is on public display at the New Bedford Whaling Museum Sperm whale dives last about an hour, but can be up to 2 hours and they go to 1-2000m in depth. The current global population has been recently estimated to be 360,000 animals, reduced from an estimated pre-whaling stock of about 1.1 million. (Whitehead, H. 2002. Estimates of the current global population size and historical trajectory for sperm whales. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.242:295-304.) They feed on a variety of deep-water squid and some fish species. Links to other relevant sites: Facts about sperm whales Sperm whale biology lectures |
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