This is a tooth from a sperm whale the largest toothed animals on the planet. The mouth that
this tooth came from is so big it could swallow a person in one bit. Can you imagine what
it would be like to swim with a sperm whale? I'm gonna give it a try.
My adventure begins with a trip to the tropical island of Dominica in the eastern Caribbean
Sea.
Dominica is a lush, mountainous island - the remains of an ancient volcano.
The mountains are filled with dense tropical rainforest containing a variety of exotic
animals.
Large amounts of rainfall create hundreds of rivers and streams.
Which creates dozens of picturesque waterfalls! Just like this one.
Dominica is a beautiful place to visit, and the coral reefs are incredible. All kinds
of tropical fish live around the vibrant reefs even the elusive sea horse.
Dominica's mountainous terrain continues underwater. The bottom drops off quickly and
the water is extremely deep.
In fact, here only a mile from shore, the water is more that 3,000 feet deep!
The deep water attracts the ocean's largest toothed predator. The sperm whale. The classic
story Moby Dick is about a malevolent Sperm whale out for vengeance. But in real life
sperm whales aren't mean at all. In fact they are down right shy.
Whales are mammals just like people. That means that they have lungs and they breathe
air. So when a whale dive just like a person it has to hold its breath.
But unlike people sperm whale dive thousands of feet deep to hunt for food.
Sperm whales can't see anything down in the deep ocean because it's dark. They find
food echolocating. The whales make clicking sounds which bounce off objects and echo back
to the whale. The whale listens to the echoes and can tell how far away the object is, sometimes
it can tell how big it is and even what it is.
Finding whales is difficult, but there is one way we can find out if there're in the
neighbor of the boat. And that's with this, this is a hydrophone. It's an under water
microphone, what we're going to do is put it in to the water and try to listen for the
sounds that whale makes.
Humm I can defiantly hear some click in the distance. So they're have to be some whales
with in a mile of the boat. Now, all we have to do is find them.
We set out to find the whales. Finding Sperm whales takes patience.
We're looking for a spout on the horizon. They're real hard to see with Sperm whale.
Our first encounter is not with Sperm whales, but with dolphins. They love to ride the bow
waves of boats...it's kind of like dolphin surfing for them. We drive around in circles
and they just seem to love the excitement. But finally, we have to get back to looking
for whales.
There!
I spot a single Sperm whale far from the boat. But as we approach, it dives out of sight.
Not in the mood to play I guess. Back to looking for whales.
Suddenly my luck changes and a Sperm whale pops up right next to the boat! If she allows
our boat to approach, then maybe I'll try to swim with her.
This is probably a female, about thirty feet long and she looks like she's just resting.
Sperm whales like to rest between their dives because they dive very deep.
She seems pretty mellow so I'm going into the water.
I don't use scuba gear to swim with a whale because it's too bulky. I'm just going
to use my mask, fins and snorkel.
I jump in and start swimming towards the whale. I have to hope that the whale finds me interesting
because if she swims away, I can never keep up. The only way I can get close is if she
wants me to. And it looks like she doesn't.
But that's OK because soon a whole pod of whales has come over to our boat for a look.
I can just tell that these whales are curious.
One calf in particular is taking a close look at us. If ever there was a time to get in
the water, this is it!
When I get in, there're whales all around me. The calf's mother notices me and turns
towards me—her six foot long jaw is open and filled with teeth. Is she going to eat
me? I'm not sure at first, but it looks more like a yawn than a threat. Not sure what
to make of me, she turns and casually leads her calf away.
But on my other side, another pair of whales have decided to come close for a look. I can't
believe it! They're coming right over! I can tell they are investigating me because
they are clicking me with their echolocation. I can feel the clicks pounding in my chest!
They are incredibly loud. Theses whale are huge. I mean each one is about the size of
a school bus and they could be real dangerous if they wanted to be, but they don't. There're
gentle and curious and once they've satisfied their curiosity and gotten a good look at
me they just kind of swim away and go back to what ever it is they normal do.
That was incredible! Did you see how close I was??
My encounter with the Sperm whales was probably one of the most incredible experiences in
my life.
As the sun sets on the horizon and we head back to shore, I can only wonder what the
whales are doing deep down below me. For now the mystery of the Sperm whales' everyday
life remain hidden in their deep blue world.