Our Animals > Pygmy Sperm Whale
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The Pygmy Sperm Whale – (Kogia breviceps)

Fun Facts

• Other names: Lesser Cachalot, Lesser Sperm whale, Short-headed Sperm whale
• They are anywhere between 8 to 11 feet long .
• They can weigh up to 900 pounds.
• They are dark blue-grey on their back, shading to pale grey or dull white on their belly.
• They have no functional teeth in their upper jaw, but they have 10-16 pairs of narrow inward-curved pointed teeth in the lower jaw.
• They tend to live far from shore in deep waters, in temperate subtropical to tropical seas.

Distribution

Records of beached Pygmy Sperm whales indicate that they habit the east coast of North America from Nova Scotia to Texas . Other areas include Peru , England , Holland , France , tip of South Africa , East Africa , Arabia , India , Sri Lanka , Southeast Australia , Tasman Sea , New Zealand , and the west coast of North America from Washington to Baja California.

Food

They mostly eat octopus and squid, but they also eat crabs, fish, and shrimp

Social Structure

Pygmy sperm whales have often been sighted alone, but evidence suggests that they form social units of 3 to 5 individuals. Little is known of the reproductive habits of pygmy sperm whales.

Sound Production

This does not appear to be a highly vocal species, or at least not in captivity where the few recordings have been made. Pygmy sperm whales do produce echo-location-like signals, and an infant under 24 hours old was known to emit squeaks, but their meaning is ambiguous.