Boy in the Submarine – Episode 1: Sperm Whales

“Sperm whales are my favourite animal! I wish I could go whale watching off the coast of Nova Scotia, maybe dive with them, and when I’m grown up, maybe even talk to them.”

Owen

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Sperm whales are the largest predator that ever lived! Predator means an animal that hunts for its food. Sperm whales dive deep down, sometimes more than 2km, and can spend as long as 2 hours diving! They eat squid, rays, jellyfish… they love things that go squish against the roof of their mouth!

The biggest Sperm Whale Ever recorded was 24m long; most are around 15 1/2m long, though. Even the babies are as long as a school bus!

They are also super-intelligent. The clicks they make that let them hear their way around in the dark (sonar! Just like a bat!) can be heard from many, many kilometers away. Scientists now think they might have a language, names, and even family group names. We are trying hard to decode it so that we can talk to them.

Deep-diving whales like Sperm Whales are critical for life on the planet. When things sink to the bottom of the ocean like dead plants and animals, deep-sea creatures eat it up, then the whales eat the deep sea creatures. Then the poop from the whales make the fertilized that lets things like kelp and seaweed grow, giving food and shelter to the animals in the shallow water. Without this “Whale pump” life in shallow water would eventually die off, as all the plant and animal matter (biomass) would sink down to the bottom, and the Ocean would become a desert.