Sperm Whale
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· Sperm Whale Behaviour
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· Pygme Sperm Whale

Sperm Whale Behaviour

Sperm whale behavior: socializing

When it comes to social Sperm whale behavior, there is a great difference between adult males and adult females. Females form tight social groups, normally consisting of about a dozen adult females and their young calves.

As a male calf grows older, he will leave his mothers group and join a group consisting of male Sperm whales of roughly the same age and size. Some males leave their mothers group when they are as young as four years old; others wait until they are over 20 years old.

As the males in a group grow older, the big group usually splits up into smaller groups. Really old males normally live by themselves. Old males have however been found stranded together on beaches, indicating that even old males might have some form of interaction with each other. We still know very little about this form of Sperm whale behavior.  

Sperm whale behaviour: breeding  

When a Sperm whale has given birth, the next birth will normally not take place until 4-6 years later. The gestation period can be anything from 12 to 18 months. The calf depends on its mother’s milk for roughly two years, and stay with its mother considerably longer. Most male Sperm whales reach sexual maturity before they turn 20, but they will seldom start reproducing at this age. The must first learn the Sperm whale behaviour connected to breeding and fight other males for a chance to mate. During the early spring and summer, males will fight each other; each male trying to discourage the others from mating with his selected group of females.

Sperm whale behaviour: protecting offspring

With the exception of man, there is only one predator known to attach adult Sperm whales – the Orca. There are instances when really big pods of Orcas have managed to kill adult female Sperm whales. There are however no reports of Orcas being able to kill large, adult males.  A single Orca will refrain from hunting adult Sperm whales; it prefers to hunt by separating a calf from its group. Even during calf hunts, Orcas usually need to form large pods in order to be successful, since the females skillfully protect their offspring. During this fascinating display of Sperm whale behavior, the female Sperm whales will form a circle and place their calves in the centre. They will then use their huge tails to fend of the Orcas with vigorous thrashes.