NOAA Fisheries News Releases
NEWS RELEASE
July 16, 2003
Sheela McLean
(907) 586-7032
Pygmy Sperm Whale Found Near Yakutat
A small toothed whale recently found dead on a beach near Yakutat is the northernmost documented observation of a pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) on the Pacific Coast of North America. National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) experts in Seattle identified the pygmy sperm whale, and determined that they have no documentation of a pygmy sperm whale so far north.
The dead whale was reported on the beach near Yakutat July 7. A Yakutat biologist and volunteer in the whale stranding network took photographs and samples to test for contaminants and for DNA.
The Yakutat pygmy sperm whale is 10 feet seven inches long, which is typical adult size. Like others of its kind, it has long, curved, sharp teeth in its underslung lower jaw, and looks much like its relative, the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), which sometimes grows to 50 feet and 40 tons.
Pygmy sperm whales are rarely seen and their numbers and habits are not well known. They inhabit the deep waters of tropical, subtropical and temperate seas. They do not dive dramatically, but simply slide deeper into the water. The whales are slow-moving and likely employ stealth while they hunt squid, shrimp, cuttlefish and other small fish.
In the Atlantic, pygmy sperm whales have been found as far north as Ireland and Nova Scotia. The most northern sighting along the eastern Pacific Coast prior to this finding was in 1942 in Gray's Harbor, Washington State.
This is the second time this summer that NOAA Fisheries whale experts have identified small whales that are relatively unknown and at the extremes of their ranges in Alaskan waters. Last month, a false killer whale was photographed following a sailing boat near Juneau and positively identified.
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation's living marine resources through scientific research, management, enforcement, and the conservation of marine mammals and other protected marine species and their habitat. To learn more about NOAA Fisheries in Alaska, please visit our website.