Sometimes when you gotta go, you just gotta go:
This is the biggest dump I’ve ever seen from a sperm whale.
I wonder if the makers of Imodium would consider using this image for an advertising campaign?
Posts Tagged Sperm Whale
Sperm Whale Poop
More Whale Watching at Home
A package from Ogasawara arrived for me while I was in the UK, and I finally had time to open it a little while ago.
Inside were the trio of smiling sperm whales below, which will go nicely with the spectacular sperm whale carving I got from Ogasawara last year:
A trio of hand-carved sperm whales, crafted in Ogasawara
…and also this lovely humpback whale, which I named Poto, in honour of a wonderful baby whale we had the privilege of encountering toward the end of my stay in the Tonga this season.
Beautiful carving of a humpback whale, sent to me from Ogasawara
Poto was the 19th calf we ID-ed in Tonga.
Yes…I know I’m way behind on putting together my calf summary for Tonga this season. Please bear with me. After I get back from Ambon, I should be staying put for a while, so I’ll have a bit of time to catch my breath and catch up with the calf ID project.
Maybe Moby
Late last night, while browsing for books to download and take with me to Ambon, I had the crazy, some would say insane, notion that I might try reading Moby Dick again (I’ve tried and failed at least a dozen times).
When I typed “Moby Dick” into my chosen online bookstore, this is what I saw:
What’s wrong with this image?
Any way you look at it, this is a well-mannered humpback whale enjoying a frisky frolic in the sun. And here I was thinking for so many years that Moby was an all-white sperm whale with a bad attitude and a penchant for torturing semi-deranged seamen.
Amazon.com had more than one Kindle edition of Melville’s masterpiece available, at least two of which featured the same species shuffle.
So…I guess this means that Amazon’s mistake wasn’t just a fluke (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the horrible pun).
…and this one?
Me At Work
In contrast to my normal “Me At Work” posts…when I usually post photographs of me looking dorky while taking photographs…here’s a snapshot of me looking dorky standing next to my photograph of four sperm whales that was selected as the winner of the Underwater Category in the 2010 Veolia Environment Photographer of the Year contest:
Me standing next to my image of four sperm whales
at the London Natural History Museum
I met a lot of wonderful people while I was in London, including a gentleman from Belgium named Michel Demeuse and his son Frédéric, whose beautiful image of delicate mushrooms was the winner of the In Praise of Plants category. Michel was kind enough to forward this photograph to me.
During the course of dinner conversation, I realised that I had indirectly worked with Michel about 15 years ago…during the dark, grim days when I had to wear a suit (and shoes even!) every day. What a small world it is.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010
Sperm whales have been good to me.
More by chance than design, they’ve played a role in every major contest I’ve entered.
Back in the year 2000, I won the grand prize at The Blue Earth Underwater Photo Contest (the largest underwater photo contest in Japan) with my image of a sperm whale with its mouth wide open and a longline hook in its mouth.
A year later, my book Silent Symphony received the International Prize for Books of Underwater Images at The World Festival of Underwater Images in Antibes, France. One of the photographs in the book was of a sperm whale.
This year (I haven’t entered any contests during the interim), I submitted a handful of images to the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition (co-organised by Veolia, the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine) and was fortunate enough to have this photograph of four sperm whales selected as the winning image in the Underwater World category:
First place in the Underwater World category of the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010
Being in London for the past few days has been an incredible experience…first, seeing so many beautiful images collected and displayed in a magnificent venue (the Natural History Museum), and second, having the opportunity to meet so many gifted photographers covering the entire range of nature photography.
If you live in London, or happen to be in one of the cities that hosts the travelling photo exhibit in the coming months, I highly recommend making time to see the selected images. They are, in a word, inspiring.
Finally…a huge “Thank You!” to the organisers and sponsors for putting on a terrific contest, arguably the best of its kind in the world, and for giving me the chance to meet so many wonderful people.
Physeter Follow-Up
After I posted this photo of a sperm whale from Ogasawara to Flickr, I received a comment/ question from Rick Pearson.
Friendly sperm whale encountered west of Chichijima, Ogasawara
Photograph taken under permit
Here’s Rick’s comment:
Hey Tony, any more info about this particular whale? Is it a male (kinda hard to tell from this angle), and how big was it? I went to your blog page and didn’t find much more info there, just that it was very friendly. The reason I’m asking, is that the entire front, flattened portion of it’s head is gray, and there are lots of scars all over the head and around the mouth. I haven’t seen that much gray in any underwater sperm whale photo, and according to both scientists, and the old time Yankee whalers, that much gray on the front was most often found only on older, and therefore much larger, male sperm whales.
I certainly noticed the grey colouration right away when we came across this whale, largely because it made the whale easy to spot, but also, as Rick alludes to, most sperm whales don’t seem to have so much grey.
I wasn’t aware of any possible correlation with the whale’s age or sex, however.
Anyway, I promised Rick I’d find and post another photo of the same whale, showing the underside so we can at least decide if it’s a male or not, so here it is:
Sperm whale hanging in the water
Photograph taken under permit
And here’s a zoomed-in view of the genital area:
Close-up of the whale’s underside
Photograph taken under permit
The whale wasn’t very big, at least as far as sperm whales go. I’d estimate it was 12 metres long at most, and it didn’t have the bulk of a mature male. I’ve been in the water with two mature bull sperm whales, and believe me…when you see a big bull…you know it!
Anyway, the colouration is intriguing. If anyone else has any insights or relevant knowledge, please share!
Between The Lines
Photographing sperm whales can be a challenge for many reasons, including the fact that…well…they’re not always terribly photogenic. They often just look like big brown blubber logs with stubby fins, a tail and a mouth.
Making sperm whales look nice can be challenging.
Sometimes, you have to look between the lines…or in this instance, between the jaw lines…to see something interesting:
See the leftover squid arm? Note the big teeth too.
I have to confess that I didn’t notice the squid arm while I was in the water, since the whale passed by at relatively high speed. The swells were also considerable, which made framing the whale a challenge as well.
I can’t be 100% certain, but I suspect the leftover calamari segment was from an Architeuthis squid. From the above photo, it looks like the arm was attached to the whale’s face, perhaps as a result of the “teeth” on the squid’s suckers, which look like this (photo below from last year):
In October 2009, I recovered a 351cm segment of an Architeuthis arm from the water after we saw a sperm whale breach. I suspected at the time that the squid arm might have been attached to the whale and became dislodged when the cetacean breached.
This photo seems to offer some support for my conjecture.
Note: Photographs taken under permit.
Back From Ogasawara
I just got back from Ogasawara, where I was fortunate enough to spend some more time with sperm whales.
I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to write about the trip before I take off again in a few days, but here’s a sample image, taken during an encounter with a particularly inquisitive whale:
Friendly sperm whale encountered west of Chichijima, Ogasawara
Photograph taken under permit
Talk: National Museum of Nature and Science
Last Friday evening, I did my first-ever talk in Japanese at the National Museum of Nature and Science, located in Ueno Park in Tokyo. My presentation was about sperm whales, and was the last in a series that accompanied a special exhibit about mammals, organised in conjunction with Asahi Shimbun and WWF Japan.
The talk was in the main exhibition hall, adjacent to a large life-size display of a sperm whale head with a giant squid in its mouth. My photo of a real sperm whale with giant squid in its mouth was located in front of the display.
Notice the sophisticated pointer I used.
A lot of people showed up (thank you!), perhaps the most for any of the talks held in conjunction with this exhibition (which says a lot about the high level of interest here in marine mammals).
Given that I had never made a public presentation in Japanese before, I was somewhat nervous, but I got into the groove fairly quickly and didn’t stumble too much (I think).
I did struggle for proper word choice a few times, but fortunately, Yamada-san from the museum’s Department of Zoology was on hand to help me through difficult topics like explaining the inner workings of a sperm whale’s enormous head.
After the talk, I answered a few questions, said hi to friends who were kind enough to drop by and listen to me ramble, and then went out for a couple of beers + great food with Yamada-san and a few other people from the museum.
All-in-all, a terrific evening.
I’d like to extend special thanks to Tamura-san from Asahi Shimbun for inviting me to do the talk, and also to the National Museum of Nature and Science for taking a chance on my Japanese language proficiency!
The best (and only) shot of a blue whale I have
ギャラリートーク：大哺乳類展－海のなかまたち
９月２４日（金）国立科学博物館にて、１８：００から３０分マッコウクジラについて講演する予定です。
国立科学博物館の特別大哺乳類展（朝日新聞とWWF Japan協賛）は、７月１０日から９月２６日まで開催されており、すでに８月中旬で、入場者２０万人以上に達しています。
現在、僕が小笠原で撮影したマッコウクジラがダイオウイカをくわえている写真が展示されています。この瞬間を撮らえた写真は世界初です。
マッコウクジラとダイオウイカ
今回のトーク内容は、小笠原とドミニカ国で撮影した写真と映像を見ていただきながら、世界の一番大きな肉食動物と一緒に泳いだ経験、例えば、クジラが発するソナーの感覚、自分のフィンをかじられた瞬間、十数頭に囲まれた経験、ドミニカで出会った「スカー」という特別に触れるマッコウクジラの話などを予定しています。
もちろん、全部日本語で話すつもりです。僕の日本語を動物研究部脊椎動物研究グループ長の山田格さんが助けてくれると思います。
ギャラリートークは無料ですが、博物館の入場に１、４００円がかかります。しかし、金曜日の場合、１７：００以降に二人で入場すると２，０００円です。詳細はこのページを見てください。
皆んなのお越しをお待ちしています。
Talk: National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo
The National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo has been holding a special exhibition on marine mammals in conjunction with the Asahi Shimbun and WWF Japan.
The exhibition started on 10 July and winds up on 26 September. As of the middle of August, over 200,000 people have visited the exhibit!
Female sperm whale with giant squid in its mouth.
My photograph of a female sperm whale consuming part of an Architeuthis giant squid is on display as part of the exhibit, and I am scheduled to give a talk on what it’s like to be in the water with sperm whales on Friday, 24 September, from 18:00 to 18:30.
Since the museum is in Tokyo, I’ll be doing my best to give the talk entirely in Japanese (gulp). Fortunately, Tadasu Yamada from the Division of Vertebrates in the Department of Zoology at the Museum will be on hand to help translate when I exceed the limits of my Japanese vocabulary.
I’m not exactly sure how the talk will go, but I’m planning to take along some sperm whale images and video clips from my recent trips to Ogasawara and Dominica.
If you can make it to the talk, I’ll tell you what it’s like to be in the water next to the largest living carnivore on the planet, to have your fin chewed by a sperm whale, to get ping-ed by sperm whale sonar, to watch a large group of socialising whales, and even to stroke an unusual sperm whale named Scar that seems to seek out human attention.
My talk is free, but there is an admission charge of 1,400 Yen to get into the museum. There’s a special rate of 2,000 Yen for two people together if you enter the museum after 17:00 on that day.
If you happen to be in Tokyo on 24 September, please drop by and say hello! Details are on this page (in Japanese).
National Museum Exhibit in Tokyo
I just received this snapshot of my photo of a sperm whale eating giant squid from a friend who visited the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo earlier today. The photo is from a trip to Ogasawara, Japan in October 2009.
My photo on display at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo
The special exhibit about marine mammals will continue until 26 September. I haven’t been able to see the exhibit yet, but I’ve received a lot of positive feedback.
If you’re in Tokyo and have time, it might be worth dropping by.
Incidentally, the same photo is also on display at the Natural History Museum in London, though friends tell me the sperm whale section is dark and difficult to find.
Thanks Michiyo-san!
Update 26 July: I received a couple more photos of the exhibit from another friend:
Crowd looking at the sperm whale exhibit
Another view of the display with my sperm whale photo
Thanks Wakae-san!
