The Surprisingly Familiar Family Lives of Sperm Whales
Shane Gero, Founder and Lead Investigator, The Dominica Sperm Whale Project
Thursday, June 6
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About the Lecture
Sperm whales are among the most enigmatic animals on the planet. The largest of the tooth whales, they have the largest brains of any animal, they are among the deepest divers of all mammals, they “see” in the darkness of the deep ocean with the most powerful natural sonar system housed in their nose, and they consume as much squid in a year as all of humanity’s modern mechanized fisheries on all species combined! Shane Gero (right) has been tracking families of sperm whales for the last nine years off the Caribbean island of Dominica.
Having spent thousands of hours in their company observing their behavior, Gero has come to know these leviathans from the deep as individuals with personalities, as brothers and sisters or as mothers and babysitters. They are truly a community of families, each with their own ways of doing things, their own traditions, and each with a unique story; all living together as neighbors in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Sperm whales are a lot like us, more so than some of us might like to admit; and their family lives are surprisingly similar to our families.
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