Sperm whales

2023 - 1 - 18

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Hill"

Dead whale washes ashore on Oregon coast; scientists determine ... (The Hill)

A 40-foot sperm whale that washed ashore on the Oregon coast Saturday died after it was hit by a ship, according to a necropsy that was completed Monday.

They can live for up to 60 years, maturing around age 52. The whale was dead before it washed ashore in Warrenton, according to the nearby Seaside Aquarium. [KOIN](https://www.koin.com/local/oregon-coast/scientists-determine-what-killed-washed-ashore-whale-on-oregon-coast/)) – A 40-foot sperm whale that washed ashore on the Oregon coast Saturday died after it was hit by a ship, according to a necropsy completed Monday.

Oregon Sperm Whale to Be Given Back to Nature Before Potential ... (Newsweek)

The 40-foot endangered whale remains on a beach at a state park following a necropsy to determine its cause of death.

Stefanie Knowlton, a communications specialist at Portland State University, said that the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) is working with local contractors to find a safe period for moving the whale. Their populations are still recovering, Milstein said, and now roughly 2,000 sperm whales are estimated to live off the West Coast. "The most commonly stranded whales are grays and humpbacks," he said. "The three most commonly stranded species in Oregon are gray whales, humpback whales and [sperm whales](https://www.newsweek.com/chunks-sperm-whale-wash-new-york-city-streets-after-storm-surge-1769452)," said Jim Rice, stranding program manager for Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute. The body of a 40-foot sperm whale that washed up on an Oregon beach earlier this week will be returned to nature, park officials say. The whale has since moved closer to the shore.

40-foot sperm whale washes ashore after being hit by ship off Oregon (The Independent)

The male whale was around 20 years old and in good condition before he was hit, necropsy determined.

“The whale had been dead for a while before washing ashore. “With help from the wonderful staff at state parks, we were able to remove the lower jaw. They can also live up to 60 years.

Photos show 40-foot sperm whale carcass washed ashore in Oregon (INSIDER)

The juvenile male was found on a beach in Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond, Oregon on Saturday, the Seaside Aquarium said in a Facebook post.

The International Whaling Commission put a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986, which helped whale species bounce back in numbers. But whale carcasses can also pose a risk to human sightseers. It really wasn't that long ago," Milstein told The Post. The spectacle of massive whales on the shore is known to bring scores of people to the beach to observe the creature, dead or alive. Vessel strikes, like the one that killed the juvenile male discovered in Oregon this month, are common culprits in injuries or deaths to sperm whales, according to NOAA. But sperm whales have struggled to recover as quickly as other species, according to Milstein, though they are "on the upswing," he told the outlet. Sperm whales are considered endangered under the Endangered Species Act. [recent study](https://affiliate.insider.com/?postID=63c73e443864676f4a7db4e4&site=in&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41598-022-24107-7&amazonTrackingID=null&platform=browser&sc=false&disabled=false) suggested there were close to 2 million sperm whales in the world before the start of large-scale commercial whaling. [estimate](https://affiliate.insider.com/?postID=63c73e443864676f4a7db4e4&site=in&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41598-022-24107-7&amazonTrackingID=null&platform=browser&sc=false&disabled=false) there are about 850,000 sperm whales left in the world after commercial whaling during the 19th and 20th centuries put a massive dent in the species' population numbers. [The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/01/17/sperm-whale-dead-oregon-beach/) that sperm whales are less common in the Northwest during the wintertime than compared to the summer. - Sperm whales are considered endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Sperm whales were among the most coveted targets of the commercial whaling industry, according to NOAA, and excessive hunting nearly decimated the species.

Endangered Sperm Whale Carcass with Large Gashes Found in ... (Nature World News)

The carcass of an endangered sperm whale was found in Oregon. Officials said the body was full of large gashes and the animal starved before death.

According to the aquarium, male sperm whales reach sexual maturity at around age 50 and grow to a length of about 52 feet. A necropsy will be performed, according to the aquarium, to examine the whale's cause of death in greater detail. According to the aquarium, the whale had been dead for some time before washing up on shore. According to an aquarium, a severely hurt whale's body washed up on shore in Oregon. Those have all, however, been gray whales. An endangered sperm whale's carcass was discovered in Oregon.

An expert explains what's next for washed-up whale on Oregon Coast (OPB News)

Powell helped determine the cause of death for the sperm whale and spoke with OPB's “All Things Considered” host Crystal Ligori. Crystal Ligori: When animals ...

But as things shift and whales may be moving to follow prey, I think the limiting factor we have with sperm whales is we just don’t know as much about them as we do with the other species. Powell: One of the big limiting factors when it comes to sperm whales is that we just don’t know as much about them as we do other large whale species off our coast. There was a sperm whale that washed up in almost the exact same spot at that state park in 2017 and a couple of tidal cycles pulled it offshore, which is part of the natural ecosystem. Powell: We don’t really know a lot about the migration behavior of sperm whales, especially compared to what we know about humpback whales and gray whales. Powell: In Oregon and Washington, of the large whale strandings that we have, about 10% of those are human interaction. So our team arrived and set a pretty big perimeter [with] the vehicles that we had, with our equipment, and around the animal just so we had a safe space to work. So as that prey shifts, the whales will follow it, and so [the sperm whale] being there is probably not abnormal, we may just not know as much about that species as we do about humpback and gray whales. So we were investigating that and some other associated external signs of trauma to determine what might have caused the injury and if the injury occurred while the animal was still alive or if it happened after the animal had already died at sea. I think the bigger the animal, the bigger the crowd it draws. [They can] provide some on-the-ground information to the response team and then decisions are made on how to and when to safely respond to the case. Powell helped determine the cause of death for the sperm whale and spoke with OPB’s “All Things Considered” host Crystal Ligori. After examining a large gash in the whale’s side, officials determined the animal died after being struck by a ship propeller.

Sperm whale found off Fort Stevens State Park died from a ship strike (Seaside Signal)

A necropsy conducted on a dead sperm whale that was found beached near the Peter Iredale shipwreck at Fort Stevens State Park on Jan.