Yes, sperm whales are currently considered an endangered species.
In fact it is estimated that during the whaling era (which occurred between the 17th and 20th centuries) as many as 1,000,000 sperm whales were killed (possibly more) and had their body parts used for various products and goods.
During this time in history sperm whales were being hunted for their oil, blubber and meat which was used to produce various materials and food such as:
- Oil – Lamp oil, soap, perfume, candles and cosmetics.
- Food – Cooking oil, margarine and whale meat.
- Clothing – corsets and umbrellas.
- and various other products including tools such as fishing hooks.
Today current estimates regarding this species have been very difficult pin point however it has been estimated that anywhere from 200,000 to over 1,500,000 sperm whales may still be in existence.
Even though the whaling era has ended there are still a few countries that hunt sperm whales today for their meat.
Other than the occasional threats these whales face by humans they are also at risk of being harmed or killed by chemical pollution, noise pollution (sonar and other man-made sounds) fishing nets and collisions with ships.
Despite the large amount of sperm whales that were being hunted during the whaling era they appear to be one of the most affluent species of large whale to exist after the this era had ended.
Part of what made the sperm whale so popular during the whaling era was the presence of their spermaceti oil which came from the spermaceti organ (hence the name sperm whale) that is located in its head.
Originally this organ was thought to produce sperm for the whale so that it could mate and bare offspring, however over time researchers have been able to debunk the long-standing myth that spermaceti oil and the organ that produces the oil has anything to do with the sperm whales reproductive system.
Although we now know that the spermaceti organ does not play a role in reproduction it unfortunately still remains unclear to this day as to why this organ exists, but there have been a number of educated guesses regarding its use.
One of the most common explanations for the use of this organ is that it may play a role in helping to stabilize the sperm whale in the water and allow the whale to control its buoyancy by controlling the amount of spermaceti oil being released.
The sperm whale is one the deepest diving marine mammal known to mankind and the spermaceti oil may be the reason this whale is able to dive to such depths when it is searching for food.
Another common explanation used by researchers is that the spermaceti oil acts like an acoustic tuning fork by allowing the sperm whale to maximize the use of its echolocation by changing the fluid density in its head.
It is important to understand that these is simply educated theories regarding the use of the spermaceti organ so no conculsions can be made yet on its use.
As a whole the sperm whale makes up one of around 80 – 90 known species of Cetacea in existence today.
The cetacean species is made up exclusively of whales, dolphins and porpoises, and is broken down into two suborders known as the toothed whale and baleen whale suborder.
The sperm whale belongs to the toothed whale suborder and is the largest of the toothed whale species with some adults measuring in at over 65 ft. long when fully matured.
As stated earlier sperm whales are known for making some of the deepest dives of all cetacean species and generally live off of a diet consisting primarily of giant squid as well as octopus and a few other aquatic species.
Due to their deep diving behaviors information regarding their hunting methods remains extremely scarce, however scars on their head indicate possible fights between sperm whales and large or colossal squid that have tried to avoid being eaten by latching onto the sperm whales head.