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The sperm whale or cachalot [a] (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator.It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant species in the sperm whale family, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale of the genus Kogia.
An attack on a strap-toothed whale. Orcas are large, powerful aquatic apex predators. There have been incidents where orcas were perceived to attack humans in the wild, but such attacks are less common than those by captive orcas. [1] In captivity, there have been several non-fatal and four fatal attacks on humans since the 1970s. [2]
South Sea Whalers Boiling Blubber, by Sir Oswald Brierly, circa 1876. State Library of New South Wales.. Sperm whaling is the human practice of hunting sperm whales, the largest toothed whale and the deepest-diving marine mammal species, for the oil, meat and bone that can be extracted from the cetaceans' bodies.
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A hunt begins with a chase followed by a violent attack on the exhausted prey. Large whales often show signs of orca attack via tooth rake marks. [84] Pods of female sperm whales sometimes protect themselves by forming a protective circle around their calves with their flukes facing outwards, using them to repel the attackers. [90]
Tourists on a boat in Australia were left stunned as they watched a pod of orcas chase and attack a group of sperm whales. A rare video shows the “titans of the ocean” battling.
In 1820, a large sperm whale attacked and sunk a ship — leaving its crew to survive at sea for three months
Many beaks have also been discovered in the stomachs of sperm whales, as the stomach juices dissolve the soft flesh of the squid, leaving the hard beaks behind. The largest beak ever discovered in this way had a lower rostral length of 49 millimeters ( 1 + 15 ⁄ 16 in), indicating that the original squid was 600 to 700 kilograms (1,300 to ...