social structures, mating behaviour and other characteristics which make the elephant and the sperm whale appear to be relatives.
Sexual dimorphism is prominent in sperm whales. While males reach sizes of
around 16 m and 45 tons, females grow up to 11 m with a weight of around 15 tons.
The sperm whale has a global distribution and both males and females can be found
in productive, temperate waters in all oceans. The older the male sperm whales get,
the higher their average latitude. This means that old sperm whales can also be found
along the edges of the pack ice in both the Arctic and the Antarctic. Whilst they do
return to more temperate waters, the timing by which this occurs remains unknown.
Sperm whales were a primary target of the commercial whaling industry the
nineteenth century since their high fat content and the oily spermaceti organ were
valuable drivers of the industrial revolution. Particularly Yankee whalers chased
sperm whales all over the world and Herman Melville’s epos Moby Dick describes
the life on board an American whaler in pursuit of the white (sperm) whale.
With the discovery of hydrocarbon fuels, the oil of the sperm whale lost its
commercial importance and towards the first half of the twentieth century sperm
whale hunts had declined. After the Second World War, however, both the oil and
the meat of the sperm whale gained significance again. The IWC permitted sperm
whaling, yet under specific conditions, until the whaling moratorium was adopted in
1982. Merely Japanese scientific whaling in the Antarctic as well as small-scale
whaling off the coasts of Indonesia constituted the only ongoing sperm whale hunts
until Japan’s withdrawal from the IWC, when Antarctic whaling was halted. Nowadays, only some Indonesian islanders take a small number of sperm whales per year.
The sperm whale is the only toothed whales that falls under the purview of the
whaling moratorium.
19
Although the sperm whale was hunted massively, it appears that its population
has recovered to a degree that it can no longer be considered endangered. The IUCN
lists the sperm whale as ‘vulnerable’ since both the population trend and the state of
the overall population are not known.
20
2.1.8 Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)
When ‘the’ dolphin is referred to, it usually means the common bottlenose dolphin
(Tursiops truncatus), which is arguably one of the most commonly known marine
mammals in the world. The bottlenose dolphin has a global abundance and can be
found in all tropical and temperate waters. Its northernmost habitat stretches towards
the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway, the water at Nova Scotia, the Kuril Islands
and the Sea of Okhotsk. In the south, bottlenose dolphins can be found in Terra del
Fuego, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
19 Whitehead (2008), pp. 1091–1097.
20 Taylor et al. (2008).
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2 Marine Mammals: Some Basics
Sexual dimorphism is prominent in sperm whales. While males reach sizes of
around 16 m and 45 tons, females grow up to 11 m with a weight of around 15 tons.
The sperm whale has a global distribution and both males and females can be found
in productive, temperate waters in all oceans. The older the male sperm whales get,
the higher their average latitude. This means that old sperm whales can also be found
along the edges of the pack ice in both the Arctic and the Antarctic. Whilst they do
return to more temperate waters, the timing by which this occurs remains unknown.
Sperm whales were a primary target of the commercial whaling industry the
nineteenth century since their high fat content and the oily spermaceti organ were
valuable drivers of the industrial revolution. Particularly Yankee whalers chased
sperm whales all over the world and Herman Melville’s epos Moby Dick describes
the life on board an American whaler in pursuit of the white (sperm) whale.
With the discovery of hydrocarbon fuels, the oil of the sperm whale lost its
commercial importance and towards the first half of the twentieth century sperm
whale hunts had declined. After the Second World War, however, both the oil and
the meat of the sperm whale gained significance again. The IWC permitted sperm
whaling, yet under specific conditions, until the whaling moratorium was adopted in
1982. Merely Japanese scientific whaling in the Antarctic as well as small-scale
whaling off the coasts of Indonesia constituted the only ongoing sperm whale hunts
until Japan’s withdrawal from the IWC, when Antarctic whaling was halted. Nowadays, only some Indonesian islanders take a small number of sperm whales per year.
The sperm whale is the only toothed whales that falls under the purview of the
whaling moratorium.
19
Although the sperm whale was hunted massively, it appears that its population
has recovered to a degree that it can no longer be considered endangered. The IUCN
lists the sperm whale as ‘vulnerable’ since both the population trend and the state of
the overall population are not known.
20
2.1.8 Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)
When ‘the’ dolphin is referred to, it usually means the common bottlenose dolphin
(Tursiops truncatus), which is arguably one of the most commonly known marine
mammals in the world. The bottlenose dolphin has a global abundance and can be
found in all tropical and temperate waters. Its northernmost habitat stretches towards
the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway, the water at Nova Scotia, the Kuril Islands
and the Sea of Okhotsk. In the south, bottlenose dolphins can be found in Terra del
Fuego, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
19 Whitehead (2008), pp. 1091–1097.
20 Taylor et al. (2008).
22
2 Marine Mammals: Some Basics