Whale of the Day 3/8: Sperm Whale

Today’s featured whale is the sperm whale, the inspiration for artist Billie Lynn’s 65-foot inflatable sculpture gracing campus this week. The sculpture may be light, but a sperm whale this size weighs more than 60 tons, about half the combined weight of the SUNY Geneseo graduating class of 2026.

Where does the name come from? While hunting, whalers found gallons of a waxy substance in the whale’s heads, known as spermaceti. But spermaceti has nothing to do with reproduction; this oil sac helps sperm whales focus sound. Sperm whales communicate and locate food with clicks, making a characteristic call that can be heard for hundreds of miles. When hunting, sperm whales routinely dive to depths of 2000 feet and greater, holding their breath for more than 45 minutes!

Between 1800 and 1987, commercial whaling killed hundreds of thousands of sperm whales, decimating these populations. People hunted these whales to use spermaceti in oil lamps, lubricants, and candles until the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling. Today, sperm whale populations are thought to be recovering, but these and other marine mammals remained threatened by vessel strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, ocean noise, marine debris, and climate change. By learning more about our amazing neighbors and our impact on nature, we can make better decisions to protect these species for generations to come.

Read more about sperm whales in this resource from NOAA. Join us at the whale to learn more and to make your own climate action plan!

Physeter macrocephalus. Did you know that sperm whales sleep vertically? Photo by Eric Cheng.