Dwarf Sperm Whale
Kogia sima
Summary 5
The dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima, formerly Kogia simus) is one of three species in the sperm whale family. They are not often sighted at sea, and most extant information comes from the study of stranded carcasses.
Description 6
The dwarf sperm whale is similar to the pygmy sperm whale, but is smaller and has a larger, taller dorsal fin, higher on its back, that looks like the dorsal fin of a bottlenose dolphin. Dwarf sperm whales live in small social groups. There are groups of females with calves; groups of males and females without calves; and groups of young whales who are not yet sexually mature. A form of defensive behavior called “inking” has been seen in both species of Kogia. To escape danger, the whale excretes a cloud of reddish-brown feces and then dives out of sight. Most other information has come from dissecting individuals who stranded and died. Squid, fish, crustaceans - and plastic bags - have been found in their stomachs.
Links:
Mammal Species of the World
Click here for The American Society of Mammalogists species account
Sources and Credits
- Robert Pitman (NOAA), no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Dwarf_sperm_whale_%28NOAA_Pitman%29.jpg
- (c) Wurtz-Artescienza, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://csdb.ioz.ac.cn/images/Upload_images/Animalia/Chordata/Mammalia/CETACEA/Physeteridae/Kogia/sima/6BDCD748-3BC5-496A-B0EA-91B540975641.jpg
- (c) Chris huh, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Dwarf_sperm_whale_size.svg/460px-Dwarf_sperm_whale_size.svg.png
- (c) User:Citron/Credit, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Kogia_sima.jpg
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kogia_sima
- (c) Smithsonian Institution, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/6624907
