Wildlife and OffshOre drilling The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Disaster: Sperm Whale

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Sperm whale
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.180.411; http://www.defenders.org/resources/publications/programs_and_policy/wildlife_conservation/threats/wildlife_and_offshore_drilling_sperm_whales.pdf

SperM Whale near oil plaTforM in The Gulf of Mexico, phoTo by chriSToph richTer for SWSS (MMS).; oil riG © u.S. coaST GuarD The sperm whale is the most abundant large whale residing year-round in the Gulf of Mexico—one of the busiest, most industrialized bodies of water in the world. In addition to the hazards posed by shipping traffic, commercial fishing and fossil-fuel exploration and extraction, sperm whales in the Gulf are faced with a new threat: oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. Sperm whaleS in the Gulf of mexico Sperm whales are leviathans of the sea. Males can reach lengths of 60 feet, and weigh as much as 125,000 pounds— about as much as a fully-loaded Boeing 737. Females are smaller, rarely more than 40 feet long. These animals possess the largest brain of any creature that has ever lived; their huge heads comprise a third of total body length. Their narrow, rod-shaped lower jaws hold 20 to 26 pairs of well-developed teeth, which are customized for seizing and grasping their