Sperm Whale Update: At Pt. Vicente in the LA area, a sperm whale surfaced ~1 mile from us at the gray whale census station. At 4:40 pm, it was on the near shore drop-off of our local deep water canyon: 600-900 feet deep (100-150 fathoms), steeply falling off nearby to 2400 feet (400 fathoms). Sperm whales in our area frequently forage along the canyon drop-off. Our last sperm whale sighting during census season (December through mid-May) was on 10 December 2005. Since then, sperm whales have been sighted several times here (outside of our gray whale census season).
“MANGO”: A notable adult sperm whale affectionately dubbed “Mango” by Cascadia Research Collective is the most frequently encountered sperm whale in our waters. He was first photographed on 13 January 1996; more recent sightings include 8 August 2011, 31 July 2012, and early August 2013.
Welcome back, sperm whales: lots of squid here!
Alisa Schulman-Janiger
