THE DIET OF GALÁPAGOS SPERM WHALES PHYSETER MACROCEPHALUS AS INDICATED BY FECAL SAMPLE ANALYSIS

• Published in: Marine Mammal Science
• Main Authors: Smith, Sean C., Whitehead, Hal
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2000
• Subjects: The Beak; Physeter macrocephalus; Sperm whale
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2000.tb00927.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1748-7692.2000.tb00927.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2000.tb00927.x

A bstract Fecal samples were collected while following sperm whales ( Physeter macrocephalus ) off the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. They contained 133 upper beaks and 164 lower beaks of cephalopods. Analysis of the lower beaks suggests that the sperm whales fed primarily on three genera of cephalopod...