The whale video provided recently by Jay Borden, a summer resident of Vinalhaven, created quite a stir among Bangor Daily News readers.
Most of us don’t spend enough time on or around the ocean to have the opportunity to witness the variety of amazing marine mammals living in Maine waters.
We sometimes don’t know exactly what we’re looking at.
Such is the case with the Vinalhaven whale, which we incorrectly identified as a minke whale. According to scientists, we’re actually observing another species.
Christopher Tremblay, a whale biologist at the University of Maine, was the first to recognize that the whale was actually a pygmy sperm whale.
Zack Klyver, who has spent his entire professional life studying, observing and working to protect Atlantic whales, agreed.
“First of all, this is a fabulous video,” Klyver said of Borden’s efforts. “Secondly, it is 100 percent a Kogia.”
Kogia is the genus that includes pygmy and dwarf sperm whales.
Klyver, a scientist, naturalist and educator who is the co-founder of Blue Planet Strategies, explained the specific characteristics that distinguish this one from its relative.
“I believe it’s a pygmy sperm whale and is not a dwarf based on the fin, which is set farther forward and is larger and less curved than the pygmy sperm, which has a smaller fin farther back on the body and more hooked at the end,” he said.
Klyver said the largest pygmy sperm whale reaches a length of 11 feet, 6 inches, while the dwarf sperm whale does not exceed 8 feet, 10 inches.
“They are not common visitors to this area, and the video provided is absolutely wonderful, but it is definitely not a minke whale, and instead from an entirely different sub-order,” said Capt. Toby Stephenson, Director of Marine Resources at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, in confirming the pygmy sperm whale identification.
Stephenson said there are unconfirmed reports that the same whale may have become stranded on Vinalhaven after the June 28 sighting, but that the animal pictured appears to be healthy.
He explained that pygmy sperm whales have been found stranded near Vinalhaven in the past.
“They are deep divers that follow squid off the shelf into more coastal water at times, and the deep water of our coastal region certainly hosts squid,” Stephenson said. “But they are not a species you ever likely see on a local whale watch. I have never seen one alive in over 25 years.”
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, pygmy sperm whales are toothed whales named after the waxy substance — spermaceti — found in their heads. It is an oil sac that helps the whales focus sound.
Protected, like all marine mammals, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, pygmy sperm whales are considered rare.
“I have not seen either [pygmy or dwarf sperm whales] on over 3,000 whale watching tours in the Gulf of Maine, but they rarely do show up, likely chasing squid close to shore or if they are lost or sick,” Klyver said.
NOAA said not much is known about pygmy sperm whales because they tend to avoid the boats and planes that are used to measure whale populations and because while in the field they are difficult to tell apart from dwarf sperm whales.
The pygmy sperm whales also only come to the surface when the sea and conditions on the water are calm. They have an ability, similar to squid, of being able to produce a dark, ink-like liquid that helps them escape from predators.
According to NOAA, pygmy sperm whales are seen alone or as part of a group of six or seven. Not much is understood about their social structure.
They are able to dive to depths of at least 1,000 feet when feeding and often consume squid, octopus, crabs, shrimp and fish.