Species Fact Sheet

SPECIES FACT SHEET –

Sperm Whale
(Physeter macrocephalus)

Photo ã Peter GH Evans

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 Species Fact Sheet

Measurements
Length Weight
Newborn: 3.5-4.5 m Newborn: c. 1,000 kg
Full grown: Up to 12.5 m (female), Full grown: Up to 15,000 kg (female),
19.2 m (male) 45,000 kg (male)

Identification
At Sea
Bushy blow directed forwards and to left, 1.5-5.0 m high; may lie log-like on surface; corrugated
back with dorsal hump instead of distinct fin; broad, triangular and deeply notched tail flukes
thrown into air when diving.

On Land
General form robust, tapering backwards. Head large, one-third of body. Up to 22 curved teeth
almost concealed below gums (upper jaw), (34)40-52(58) large conical teeth (lower jaw). Teeth
sharply pointed in young animals, become more rounded with age.

Description
Head
Its large square shaped head occupies at least one-third of the body and is particularly
pronounced in adult males due to extreme sexual dimorphism. This feature readily distinguishes
it from the more streamlined torpedo-shaped body of rorquals such as blue, fin, sei or minke
whale. The blowhole is prominent and positioned on left side of head. The lower jaw is much
narrower than the upper jaw, and is underslung, and there are 2-10 short, deep throat grooves.

Body, Fin & Markings

Its general body colour is dark grey or brownish grey with variable white areas around the mouth
and often on the belly. White scratches and scars are common on the body and especially the
head of larger individuals. Corrugations to the skin give it a wrinkled or shrivelled appearance.
There are paler patches on belly in genital area. There is a thick, low, rounded dorsal hump two-
thirds along the back followed by a series of bumps on the dorsal surface of the tail stock. In adult
females and some young males, there are white or yellowish calluses on the dorsal hump. The
flippers are short but wide and spatulate in shape. The tail stock may have a post-anal keel
tapering sharply to the flukes. When sperm whales make a steep dive, they characteristically
throw their broad, triangular and deeply notched tail flukes into the air. The pattern of nicks and
notches along the straight trailing edge enables individual recognition.

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 Species Fact Sheet

Distribution
Global Distribution
Sperm whales have worldwide distributions, occurring in deep waters of all seas. Females and
juvenile males have a more limited range than adolescent and mature males, being confined
more or less to warmer waters (generally with sea surface temperatures above 15oC) between c.
45oN and c. 45oS. When young males reach ages of 14-21 years they move increasingly to higher
latitudes. Only large males are found at the highest latitudes, sometimes occurring even close to
ice edge, but generally in the most productive deep waters.

European Waters
In the North Atlantic, the species is widely distributed mainly off the continental shelf, along the
mid-Atlantic Ridge and around oceanic archipelagos (Azores, Madeira, Canaries, Cape Verdes). It
can be found from Norway and Iceland in the east, south to breeding grounds in the Caribbean
Sea in the west, and the Iberian Peninsula, Macaronesia, and the Mediterranean Sea in the east.

Overall Distribution of Sperm Whale around British Isles (Source: Waggitt et al., 2020)

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 Species Fact Sheet

UK & Ireland
Formerly, sightings around the British Isles were almost exclusively of larger males, singly or in
small groups. More recently, records of smaller individuals in larger groups have increased,
including some mass strandings of immature males. Sightings in British and Irish waters have
been mainly between July and December, with known preferred feeding areas west and north of
the British Isles and Ireland including the edge of the Porcupine Bank, the Rockall Trough, and
the Faroe-Shetland Channel. Sperm whales often stray into the North Sea and even the Baltic,
well outside their normal habitat, resulting in strandings of single animals or loose groups of up
to 29. Most strandings are between November and March.

Abundance
Sperm whales are generally the most common large whale in deep waters. Estimates derived
from wide-scale surveys in summer 2016 covering mainly shelf waters from southern Norway to
Portugal estimated c. 13,500 individuals. Further north, in 2015, c. 23,300 sperm whales were
counted in waters around the Faroes and to the south and west of Iceland, and c. 4,900 in
Norwegian waters.

Habitat
The species favours waters exceeding 200 m, and usually 500-2,000 m depth. Their preferred
habitat is submarine canyons at the edges of continental shelves or beyond. They will also occur
close to coasts of volcanic and oceanic islands where deep water is present. They are generally
the most common large whale in deep waters.

Diet
Sperm whales are mesopelagic foragers that feed mainly on a variety of deep sea squid. However,
they will also take saithe, monkfish, halibut, benthic octopus, and crustaceans. Males tend to
take larger items, with females and juveniles eating more demersal fish. Stomach contents from
strandings in Europe have revealed that squid Gonatus fabricii is an important prey.

Behaviour
Generally, a family unit of sperm whales will consist of 10 females and their young. Females will
spend their lives in a close family unit with their young. Mating system is polygynous. Males leave
their natal units between 4-21 years and then are found in loose aggregations. “Bachelor schools”
are formed of juvenile males of approximately the same size and age. As males get larger, they
move to higher latitudes. Around the British Isles, sightings are almost exclusively of larger males
singly or in small groups. Adults spend c. 75% of their time making deep dives for feeding. Dives

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 Species Fact Sheet

typically last 25-50 mins and go to 400-600 m depth (but have been known to dive to 3,200 m
and remain submerged for as long as two hours). Individuals, particularly juveniles, may breach
clear of the surface, or lob-tail. Other typical behaviours include logging on the surface, spy-
hopping, and fluke slapping. Low-frequency, stereotyped clicks (some of which are termed
“codas”), are apparently distinct to groups of sperm whales and serve as acoustic signatures.
Clicks are also probably used for echolocation to help locate prey.

Life History
Sexual maturity is reached at 7-12 years in females and 18-19 years in males. The gestation period
is 14-16 months, with a calving interval of between 3 and 15 years. Although young will eat solid
food at 1 year of age, they may suckle for up to 12 years. The maximum life span is at least 70
years. Most births are in summer or autumn.

Conservation Threats
Current threats to sperm whales include ship strikes, underwater noise disturbance, plastic
ingestion, entanglement in fishing gear, and changes in prey availability. The species was widely
exploited during the 19th and 20th century although numbers are not thought to have been
depleted to the same level as some baleen whales. It is estimated that current abundance is
about one-third of original levels. Legally protected in European, British and Irish waters.

IUCN status: Vulnerable.

References
Evans, P.G.H. (2020) Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus. Pp. 131-136. In: European Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises. Marine Mammal
Conservation in Practice. Academic Press, London & San Diego. 306pp.

Evans, P.G.H. and Waggitt, J.J. (2020) Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus. Pp. 158-159. In: Atlas of the Mammals of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland (D. Crawley, F. Coomber, L. Kubasiewicz, C. Harrower, P. Evans, J. Waggitt, B. Smith, and F. Mathews, Eds). Published for
The Mammal Society by Pelagic Publishing, Exeter. 205pp.

Jefferson, T.A., Webber, M.A., and Pitman, R.L. (2015) Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus. Pp. 88-84. In: Marine Mammals of the World.
A Comprehensive Guide to their Identification. Academic Press, London & San Diego. 608pp.

Waggitt, J.J., Evans, P.G.H., Andrade, J., Banks, A.N, Boisseau, O., Bolton, M., Bradbury, G., et al. (2020) Distribution maps of cetacean and
seabird populations in the North-East Atlantic. Journal of Applied Ecology, 57: 253-269. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13525.

Whitehead, H. (2003) Sperm Whales: Social Evolution in the Ocean. Chicago University Press, Chicago, IL.

Whitehead, H. (2018). Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus. Pp. 919-925. In: Encyclopaedia of Marine Mammals (B. Würsig, J.G.M.
Thewissen, and K.M. Kovacs, Eds). Academic Press, London & San Diego. 1,157pp.

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