Sound provides new information about the secret lives of sperm whales • MBARI

Sound provides new information about the secret lives of sperm whales

A sperm whale dives below the surface of Monterey Bay. The whale’s wide, gray fluke, or tail, is showing above the water’s surface. The background is grayish-blue water with prominent ripples. The coastline, including the two smokestacks of the former Moss Landing power plant, is in the distance.

MBARI’s acoustic technology has revealed that sperm whales are more common offshore of California than previously believed, and has provided new evidence for seasonal migrations in this top predator of the deep sea.