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Today's fish of the day is the lovely dwarf sperm whale! Yes I know it isn't an actual fish, thank you
There really aren't many good pictures of it in the wild... it's quite elusive! Here is an illustration to give a better idea of how it looks.
Dwarf sperm whale facts:
- The dwarf sperm whale is named after spermaceti, a substance found in the whale’s head similar to wax. There are many theories on why they have it, some think it helps them with echolocation, while others believe it helps them with diving. Spermaceti is found in all sperm whales, not just this species. In the past, it was used to make candles and lubricants, but now, due to whaling bans, it isn’t legal to buy or produce in many places. However, Jojoba oil seems to be a good substitute!
- They are able to release a sort of ink, dark-ish brown in colour, to escape predators similarly to squid. Their bodies can store multiple gallons of this substance!
- While the sperm whale can reach a staggering 50ft/24m in length, the dwarf sperm whale is notably smaller, only reaching around 8ft/2.4m. This places it among the smallest non-dolphin whales on earth!
- They do not have a balanced amount of teeth on their jaws! On their upper jaw, they have 6 teeth, but on their lower jaw, the number of teeth can range between 16 to 24!
- The pygmy sperm whale is the dwarf sperm whale’s closest relative. They are so alike that, for a while, the dwarf sperm whale and the pygmy sperm whale were considered the same species! However, this changed in 1966.
Do you got that dwarf sperm whale in you? I think it's absolutely adorable!!
Comments
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slushie.gamer 🎮
woah this is awesome might start a blog like this too but for science
If you do decide to start a blog like that, I'd love to read it!
by picmiz; ; Report
nightshade
oh neat, i had no idea they could produce ink too!!
Chris
GUYS i think i have that dwarf sperm whale in me.
THATS SO COOL! i wonder why they have so many more teeth on their lower jaw compared to the upper jaw! maybe its to do with their diet?
Good question... I did a little bit of searching, turns out upper teeth really aren't needed for their way of eating!! They suction feed, so maybe they have so few because they'd just get in the way? I mean, sperm whales don't have ANY teeth on their upper jaw, so that could be why,,
by picmiz; ; Report
huh... i mean why even have teeth then? if they suction feed and they don't need the teeth for anything what evolutionary trait did they need to evolve them for? I mean the sperm whale doesn't have any like you said, why do they. are they trying to be unique lmfao
by Chris; ; Report