Rare Video Captures Sperm Whale in Deep Sea

[foz]

I loved this video not so much for the whale, but because of the audio commentary from the scientists. It's so inspiring to listen to a really great team react to something like that. They clearly work brilliantly together, and with humor.

[aaronharnly]

I'm charmed that they sound about as nerdy and astonished as I and my friends would if dropped into the same situation.

[saganus]

"...or maybe from a Krrrrraken!" :)

[bglazer]

The shots of the whale and ROV together (that I guess are from a camera attached to the tether) are hauntingly beautiful.

Here's a couple fun fact about sperm whales:

They have the largest brain among all animals living and extinct (17lbs!).

Scientists can estimate the size of sperm whales based on analysis of the clicks they generate for echolocation. [1]

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1991....

[skywhopper]

I went on a whale-watching cruise last winter, and we were lucky enough that one of the humpbacks came very close to our ship and even went under it close enough to the surface that we could see it clearly. Obviously the crowd of non-scientist tourists who were expecting to just see some flukes and fins off in the distance were oohing and aahing like crazy. It was really thrilling and exciting.

So it's heartwarming and hilarious and wonderful to hear exactly the same reactions out of the marine scientists watching this video feed showing this highly curious sperm whale. It's worth watching just to get that buzz of joy.

[snowwrestler]

Interesting to see that the whale seems to have no preferred orientation. When first spotted it is "inverted" (belly up) with respect to the video screen's orientation, and then in the rest of the video it faces all sorts of different directions as it swims near the ROV.

Almost all the footage I've seen of whales is near the surface, where they do tend to maintain one "upright" orientation--probably because that it the orientation in which it is easiest for them to breathe.

And now that I think about it, most of the footage I can remember of ocean life shares those two characteristics: shot near the surface, and most animals seem to prefer "upright" orientations. When was the last time you saw video of a shark or fish swimming upside down? Wonder if there is a connection there. Maybe the sun? It's pitch black at 2,000 feet.

On the other hand, seals and sea lions stay close to the surface and like to swim upside down.

[curtis]

Sperm whales sometimes sleep in a vertical position: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_whale#Sleeping

[classicsnoot]

Given the list of enemies of the great cetacean, i bet it has learned to threat assess in 360 degrees. At that depth the danger comes from all sides. Pretty interesting thought though; i wonder if more deep sea footage would show more creatures disregarding my desire to see them swim like airplanes fly...

[MRSallee]

Not to be vulgar, but a dead sperm whale washed up on a beach in Pacifica, Californa on Tuesday, just 15 minutes south of SF.

http://flic.kr/p/s7qCvj

[icpmacdo]

Do they still blow them up?

[ende]

Wow, I knew they could hold their breath for awhile but 90 mins? Depths of 3000 feet? Evolution is a poweful optimizer.

[wmeredith]

It's had a lot of cycles :)

[DyslexicAtheist]

"video is currently unavailable"

[runarberg]

You can see the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkBpummjR5I

[andyford]

rare video indeed

[rodrigoavie]

Wow, thanks for sharing. I wish I could live something like this, didn't even have to be such a rare animal. A humpback whale would do :)

[pvaldes]

This animal seems to be really puzzled by the ROV. Is a male. Young, probably. Literally scanning slowly the machine with his head and wondering what's that thing. A ultrasound recording should give us an burst of clicks.

Really nice video, with also some deep-sea plancton. Maybe apendicularia or hydrozoan jellyfishes. I feel really jealous now.

[nosage]

Amazing, thank you for sharing!