The winner of the title of
the Largest Ocean Carnivore goes to the Sperm
whale. The largest of the toothed whale species
in the world. Adult males can grow up to 60 feet long and weigh 40 tons
(read - 80,000 pounds!). Males are usually about twice as large as the
females. They have a pretty long life span, about as long as people,
living up to 70 years. Sperm whales have been found living in every
ocean in the world.
Just like you and me, the sperm whale
is born without teeth. They drink milk from their mother's mammary glands,
just like baby people do. They finally grow teeth in their massive jaws
when reaching sexual maturity. Sperm whales have strong conical (cone-shaped)
teeth on their lower jaw and only remnants of teeth in the upper jaw.
The largest teeth are 11 inches long! That's about as long as an adult
human's forearm. Can you imagine? One tooth from the mouth of this massive
creature is as big as your arm. Do you think he could eat you? It's
not likely you'll find yourself being eaten by a sperm whale, they don't
eat people. Their favorite food is giant and
colossal squid.
It takes a lot of food to keep a big
sperm whale happy - about a ton of food a day. Scientists have measured
them diving down as deep as 3,000 meters and holding their breath for
two hours to go after the squid that they love to eat so much. They
also feed on other creatures, such as octopus and fish. But sperm whales
have been the stuff of legends because of their massive size and predatory
nature and because of the telltale markings left on their bodies by
the giant squid they stalk and hunt in the great ocean depths. To date,
the best evidence scientists have of the existence of giant squid are
the scars the suckers from the squid's tentacles left on the whales'
skin, and the large pieces of partially digested giant squid found inside
the whales' stomach. Read more about giant
squid here at Extreme Science.
The great ocean carnivore has been
known to eat another great ocean carnivore - the great white shark!
So the sperm whale really is the baddest of them all!
Location: Sperm Whales live
in oceans all over the world - anywhere they want to!
Facts: Large male orcas
can reach up to 60 feet long and weigh over 40 tons (80,000 pounds)!
The females are usually half the size of the male sperm whales.
The Scientists Who Study this Cool
Stuff?
Marine Biologists.
