Devon Sperm whale seen again, possibly with a calf

06/08/2010 12:53:13 Torbay sperm whale surfaces again - possibly with calf
August 2010. The Torbay sperm whale has been seen again - and this time it is thought it might have a calf with it. The whale was spotted from the clifftops at around 6.30am on August 5th about 150 yards off North Preston Beach.
Paignton resident Ken Rowe, a former oil industry worker who has been used to seeing large fish and sea mammals all his working life across the world, couldn't thought he was seeing things.

He explains: "It was a beautiful morning and the sea was mirror calm and very clear. I was watching some sea birds washing on the sea, when I saw what I thought a large shadow moving. It came up to the surface and blew before going back under again. I could hardly believe it; I'd say it was around 45ft long.

Second shadow
"Then I saw another shadow further away, about a third of the size, and they started to move and then rose to the surface and blew again. I've seen large fish and whales all over the world and I have been watching dolphins and porpoises down on these shores all my life and I have never seen this before."
Sea Watch sightings Officer Gemma Veneruso said: "We've sent Ken pictures of sperm whales and from all that he says it sounds very likely that this is another sighting of the whale which was first seen at the end of June, and has been seen since in July."

Sperm whale facts

• Length: Newborn calves are 3.5-4.0m long
  Adult females are /8.3-11.0(15.0)m 27.4- 36.3(49.5)ft
  Males grow to around 11.0-15.8(20.5)m/36.3-52.1(67.6)ft (adult male).
• Head: The Sperm whale has a huge square head (up to one-third total length in male); underslung lower jaw. 
• Fin and Markings: No fin but distinct triangular or dorsal hump two-thirds along body, followed by spinal ridge. Corrugations on skin gives the Sperm Whale a shrivelled appearance. Dark brown or grey in colour.
• ID: The bushy blow of a Sperm Whale is directed forwards and to left, 1.5-5.0m high; may lie log like on surface; broad, triangular and deeply notched tail flukes thrown into air.
  

Sperm whale habits and distribution
Sperm whales live in matriarchal groups, breeding in the tropics. Females usually remain there with their young, but when the young males are adolescent (around 15 years old), they start to wander into high latitudes, sometimes in small groups or the more mature males often solitarily. Almost all records around the British Isles are males, mainly mature animals so if this sighting is proved to be a female with a calf that would be rather exceptional.

Sperm whales normally live in deep waters off the edge of the continental shelf, so its presence in the eastern Channel is unusual (the nearest regular haunt for the species is the Bay of Biscay). Most records are from northern or western Britain although occasionally they enter the North Sea often resulting in them stranding. And that's the present fear with this animal.