Here's another view from the tail end. Note that the dorsal fin (on the left side) is relatively small and falcate (curved backward):
This is a Pygmy Sperm Whale (Kogia breviceps). It washed up on Salmon Creek Beach on 7 August 2018. The entire animal was ~11 feet long.
The next photo shows a close-up of the head and flippers. Note several features: the squarish, blunt head (the species name "breviceps" means "short head"; a very small underslung jaw; and short rounded flippers set relatively close to the head.
Because the lower jaw is so unusual, here's a closer view (below). Birds had been pecking at the whale, which created a very bloody image. So I changed this photo to grayscale so the blood wouldn't be too distracting:
Also unusual are the very sharp, fang-like teeth (only in the lower jaw). They can make this whale look somewhat shark-like:
Pygmy Sperm Whales are rarely seen at sea. They're generally found in deeper waters offshore (outer continental shelf and beyond) in warm temperate and tropical zones. From studies of stomach contents of stranded animals, it appears that they primarily eat deep-water cephalopods (squid and octopus) using suction-feeding:
Figure modified from Bloodworth and Marshall. 2010. Feeding kinematics of Kogia and Tursiops (Odontoceti: Cetacea): characterization of suction and ram feeding. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology 208: 3721-3730.
The Marine Mammal Center and the California Academy of Sciences will be doing a necropsy to determine the cause of death. Because Pygmy Sperm Whale specimens are rare, the skeleton will be preserved at the California Academy of Sciences.
Many thanks to Connor for letting me know about this whale. And to Sue Pemberton for confirming the identification and providing the information about its final disposition.
5 comments:
WOW!
Thanks, Jackie, for bring us such rare animals.
This really opens up my world of possibilities!
Sue
With the prominent teeth and blood my first reactive thought was "shark" but then, "Hmm, what an odd looking creature". Also thought "juvenile" but if called "pygmy" this is likely an adult, n'est-ce pas?
Yes, this is likely an adult. The maximum recorded length for a Pygmy Sperm Whale (Kogia breviceps) is around 11 feet, so this is about as big as they get. Notably, the very similar Dwarf Sperm Whale (Kogia sima) reaches lengths of ~8.5 feet, so the size of this animal is potentially one clue about the identification.
Thanks for the comments and questions!
Jackie
I got it right as far as the sperm whale part goes. Was a large group of Marine Mammal people out this morning north of Salmon Creek. Were they there for this?
I think they picked up the Pygmy Sperm Whale on August 8th. So today's activity (on August 11th) was likely different.
Jackie
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