Rare Pod Of Sperm Whales Surface Between Long Beach, Catalina
LONG BEACH (CBS) — Whale watchers out of Long Beach were treated to a rare sight Thursday – a pod of 14 sperm whales that surfaced about halfway between Long Beach and Catalina Island.
"They are an endangered species, and the fact that we can see them relatively close to a large urban area is remarkable," said David Bader, a marine biologist at the Aquarium of the Pacific. "It's like seeing a herd of elephants, right off the coast of Long Beach. It gave us a glimpse of what's out there."
Mature male sperm whales can grow to 59 feet long, about double the size of an orca whale, which can be seen at parks like SeaWorld, Bader said.
Sperm whales are similar to the whale in "Moby Dick," he said.
The whales in the pod on Wednesday were about 35 feet long, and probably were females and immature males, Bader said. They were seen about 1:40 p.m. Wednesday.
There are only about 2,200 sperm whales along the west coast from Washington to San Diego, Bader said. Photos and video were taken of the sperm whales, which was a rare opportunity.
Sperm whales eat squid on the ocean floor, surface only briefly and usually individually.
"Usually they just surface for a minute and then go back underwater for as long as an hour, so you normally only get a glimpse of them," Bader said. "And these whales were just lollygagging around, for lack of a better way to put it."
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