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AnimalsTranscript
00:04There's a great beast in the ocean that invokes all the fear and wonder of the sea itself, the sperm
00:12whale.
00:15A 40-ton leviathan, once considered the demon of the high seas.
00:22During the great age of whaling, the sperm whale fought back, and men were pitted against the force of nature
00:28itself.
00:29Its reputation as a killer reached its peak in Melville's Moby Dick.
00:39In pursuit of the mighty sperm whale, men lowered small boats like this.
00:45Not much protection against an angry giant.
00:48I'm here at Mystic Seaport on the Connecticut coast, and behind me is the last wooden whale ship in the
00:55world.
00:56A reminder of our changing relationship to the sea.
01:00The whale fleet is part of history now, but our fascination with the sperm whale lives on.
01:07A new generation is tracking it out to sea, and discovering that Moby Dick, while no demon, is still the
01:15master of the deep.
01:41Major funding for nature is provided by the Park Foundation.
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01:54Major corporate support is made possible by Canon.
01:58In our dedication to the preservation of nature and its never-ending beauty.
02:03In photographs, you can capture the wild and leave it as you found it.
02:08By Ford Motor Company.
02:10We turned large areas of this plant complex outside Mexico City into a natural refuge for waterfowl, amphibians, and desert
02:19flora.
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02:38And by annual financial support from viewers like you.
02:43TIAA Craft.
02:49Somewhere along the boundary between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean,
02:54a bull sperm whale emerges from the Kingdom of the Deep.
03:24At 40 tons, he's a giant among toothed whales.
03:29And the most formidable predator on the planet.
03:40Once persecuted to the brink of extinction, sperm whales are now returning from the abyss.
03:49As Moby Dick, the sperm whale became the symbol of malice and torment.
03:53Now, we're discovering the wonder of its true nature.
04:08The huge whale is not alone.
04:11It's being tracked by a team of young researchers led by Jonathan Gordon
04:15from the International Fund for Animal Welfare and Oxford University.
04:25Observing deep diving creatures in the high seas is a real challenge.
04:29But their vessel, Song of the Whale, is equipped for the job.
04:34Jonathan and a few collaborators in other parts of the world
04:37are beginning to discover the remarkable nature of the least known of the great whales.
04:52Song of the Whale makes an excellent platform from which to make sightings.
05:00When under sail, she makes little noise.
05:03And from the top of the mast, it's possible to scan a long way toward the horizon.
05:12Any sign of surface activity in the vast ocean might lead Jonathan and his team to the whales.
05:34They've already sailed across the Atlantic.
05:37That was when they intercepted the large male.
05:40In fact, they were all heading the same way towards Dominica.
05:51This island has always been known to be one of the favorite haunts of the sperm whale.
06:03Dominica plunges steeply to the seabed, more than 3,000 feet below the surface.
06:11It's mostly female sperm whales with young that come to these deep, warm seas.
06:29The females form the basis of sperm whale society.
06:33And they don't migrate into cold waters as the males do.
06:44They reach up to 40 feet long.
06:47But they're much smaller than fully grown males.
06:54Unlike other great whales, the cows are quite gregarious and live with their calves and immature bulls in groups of
07:01between 12 and 50 individuals.
07:06With so many females around, the defenseless young may be safer when their mothers go diving for food.
07:16In the past, whales were pursued by people with commercial rather than scientific motives.
07:26At the beginning of the 19th century, hundreds of ships sailed out of New England to slaughter whales.
07:36The sperm was by far the most valuable because its huge head alone yielded hundreds of gallons of especially pure
07:45oil.
07:46After all, in those days, whale oil lit the lamps of the Western world and lubricated the wheels of industry.
07:57Attacking some whales was risky.
08:00Belligerent sperms frequently retaliated, with disastrous consequences.
08:07Such encounters inspired Herman Melville's classic yarn of Moby Dick, a malicious white sperm whale that was continually a thirst
08:17for human blood.
08:21He turned the tables on his pursuer, Captain Aham, and destroyed him and his ship.
08:37Open boat whaling continued in the central Atlantic until 1987.
08:44The seafarers from the Azores knew how dangerous sperm whales could be when harpooned.
08:54When injured, the whale could take off, towing the boat at 15 knots on what was called a Nantucket sleigh
09:01ride.
09:08Such was the destructive power of the flailing tail that they called it the Hand of God.
09:28Nowadays, international treaties afford the whales a measure of protection, and the researchers can work the old whaling grounds with
09:37a new purpose.
10:01The sperm whale's restless routine continues, regardless of whether it's day or night.
10:09A few years ago, Jonathan would not have been able to track such elusive creatures during the hours of darkness.
10:15But thanks to the development of the hydrophone, nocturnal tracking is now a practical proposition.
10:23The boat trails a pair of underwater microphones.
10:31These pick up sounds made by vocalizing whales.
10:42With specially designed equipment, the team can pinpoint the direction of their calls with astonishing accuracy.
10:49What have you got, then?
10:51I can still hear the sperm whales that we're following today.
10:53You've got that male still there?
10:55Yeah, I think I can hear them.
10:55They're ahead, yeah?
10:56Yeah.
10:57Richard?
10:58Yeah?
10:59They're still ahead.
10:59You can get going.
11:00Okay.
11:04Throughout the night, the research vessel will shadow the whales, which follow a surprisingly straight course, and cruise at the
11:12same speed for hours on end.
11:17By moonlight, the Caribbean Sea changes character.
11:37At night, creatures from the deep visit the surface.
11:52Squadrons of squid, themselves food for sperm whales.
12:14Meanwhile, hundreds of feet down, the huge whales are taking their fill.
12:33After a busy night, Dawn finds Song of the Whale drifting off the west coast of Dominica.
12:39But something puzzling has happened.
12:41The sea has gone silent.
12:45The directional hydrophone is so sensitive, it can detect sperm whales calling up to five miles away.
12:53So it's unlikely that they've given Jonathan the slip.
13:00In fact, they're almost beneath the hull of the boat.
13:07And they're quiet because they're sleeping.
13:16Why they should rest upright or lie motionless is still a mystery.
13:21Perhaps it's their way of avoiding detection.
13:38Like other marine mammals, they seem to sleep at different times of the day and do so with their eyes
13:45closed.
14:01Now they're beginning to stir.
14:14In a matter of minutes, they can be miles away.
14:26With no wind to fill the sails, Jonathan and his crew must use the engine to keep up with the
14:32pods of moving whales.
14:47Sperm whales communicate with each other by producing and receiving pulses of sound.
14:52One of Jonathan's research projects is to decipher the functions of these clicks.
15:00Different groups seem to favor different click patterns, possibly for keeping the pods together.
15:10About midday, the whales slow down and small groups start to congregate.
15:15This is what Jonathan has been hoping for because it might be the prelude to some important behavior.
15:33The females are accompanied by their offspring of various ages and indulge in a great deal of bodily contact.
15:47This rubbing must surely be an expression of mutual recognition and a way of renewing their social bonds.
15:57The calves depend upon milk for at least a year and the mothers find it easier to suckle them away
16:04from the rest of the group.
16:12These bouts of serious socializing raise the possibility that the animals within the groups are closely related to each other.
16:33An opportunity arises for the team to check the theory.
16:42The whales continually shed pieces of skin and one of the researchers attempts to collect some.
16:50As the skin sloughs off, some of it is consumed by remoras, sucker fish that live on the whales.
17:11The persistent body rubbing that takes place when whales meet sometimes loosens great strips of skin.
17:23Once collected, the fragments from different individuals will be taken back to the lab for genetic analysis.
17:30The results will reveal the extent to which the whales are related to each other or not.
17:43After the samples are taken, there are plenty of bits left to provide meals for camp followers, like Dorado.
18:00When the whales start to feed, the groups disperse.
18:04But the very young ones lack the stamina to dive with their mothers.
18:08And this presents the parents with something of a dilemma.
18:17If no babysitter is available, the mothers must head into the depths, leaving their offspring behind for up to an
18:24hour at a time.
18:31Although a newborn whale weighs a ton and is 12 feet long, it can still fall victim to sharks.
18:52Even when the mother is out of sight, hundreds if not thousands of feet below, parents and offspring stay within
18:59hearing range.
19:00And a cry of alarm from a youngster will alert adults to potential danger.
19:06For the sea has its own packs of wolves, killer whales.
19:28The returning mother knows exactly where her calf is.
19:46If she's angered, she can go on the attack.
19:49Her lower jaw may look narrow, but it's quite capable of biting a rowboat in two.
20:11The old bulls and some younger males have quite different lifestyles.
20:16The largest and oldest bulls are often found alone.
20:20Young ones form bachelor groups.
20:25For the most part, the bulls stay in cooler regions.
20:28But at certain times of the year, they associate with the cows and their calves.
20:41In the Caribbean, the big males appear so infrequently that Jonathan gives them names.
20:48There's a big male, a really big male.
20:53It's Hal again.
20:54It's the one with a white head.
21:04Hardly believe they were the same species.
21:06It's completely different.
21:07That great big swollen head that Hal's got.
21:09Look at that blow.
21:11Really powerful blow.
21:16I wonder if we can hear clangs at the moment.
21:18Can we hear any clangs?
21:19Can we get a direction to see if it's this guy that's clanging?
21:24The mature males announce themselves with a characteristic sound, a loud clang or click.
21:36Big Hal carries on his forehead the scars of previous battles with rival bulls.
21:42He's on his way once more to find the females.
21:50Clearly, they're excited by his presence and move in his direction.
22:09He does not rely solely on his penetrating clicks to signal his arrival.
22:29No one fully understands the significance of tail lobbing.
22:34But when whales start to socialize, they frequently slap the water with their flukes.
22:47Within a short time, several family groups have joined up into an exceptionally large gathering of 40 or so whales.
22:57And soon, big Hal is in the thick of them.
23:24Like a submarine, he depends on acoustics, using sound to navigate and picture his surroundings.
23:30His colossal head, which accounts for a third of his length, contains the biggest of all animal brains.
23:39An immense sack of oil and the mechanism for producing a range of very intense and powerful sounds.
23:50But certain sounds are not for navigation.
23:56He adopts a head-down position and clangs for all he's worth.
24:08This may be Hal's way of attracting a mate and showing the immature males who's boss.
24:33Hal's arrival has caused quite a commotion and the audience of females and their calves joins in the chorus.
24:51Another young bull is singing 60 feet down.
24:55Within a short time, there are whales sounding off at all depths.
25:04Even the calves react to the clamor.
25:09That lower jaw may be an important sound receptor, conveying information to the enormous brain.
25:23Although they're too young to mate successfully, the spirited young males become aroused by the presence of so many females
25:31and calves.
25:31No one knows quite what's going on here, but bouts of sexual exploration among the young bulls are frequently observed
25:40on occasions like this.
26:11Don't disturb the
26:11Music
26:11music
26:17For the adolescent males, such precocious behavior might be a sign that they won't be staying
26:23with their families for much longer.
26:31These sessions often result in the release of semen into the sea, so they are almost
26:36certainly of no reproductive significance.
26:51After an hour or two, the socializing comes to an end.
26:57Big Hal is getting hungry.
27:16His sonar enables Jonathan's team to follow his progress.
27:19And to imagine what occurs on his incredible trip into the abyss.
27:30As a diving mammal, he is unrivaled.
27:34From the echoes of his calls, he'll picture the layout of the seabed and the whereabouts
27:39of his prey.
27:47With his heartbeat slowed to about one-third its normal rate and blood diverted to the
27:53brain and vital organs, he descends in search of food.
28:19At a depth of between one to three thousand feet, the whale echolocates his prey by the thousand.
28:27For big whales have huge appetites.
28:44After nearly an hour, the urge to breathe drives Hal to the surface where Song of the Whale is
28:51is waiting for him.
29:00Males leave their family groups when they're about five years old.
29:04Half-grown bulls migrate to high southern or northern latitudes where they'll find off-duty
29:11many adult bulls.
29:19At the height of mechanized whaling in the 1960s, the males were especially targeted because
29:25of their size.
29:30The killing was so intense and prolonged that the big bulls were almost wiped out.
29:36So much so that they are rarely seen even to this day.
29:44Since the ban on commercial hunting in 1988, the whales have been reprieved.
29:49So for the moment, sites such as this are a thing of the past.
30:00Growing males and off-duty bulls concentrate in special places capable of supporting their
30:07vast appetites.
30:11One of them was off the south island of New Zealand in the bountiful sea bordering the
30:16Kaikoura Peninsula.
30:21A commercial whaling industry was once located here because of the presence of numerous large
30:27sperm whales so close to the coast.
30:32There's virtually no socializing here for the whales have only one thing in mind, feeding.
30:49The Kaikoura Peninsula juts out into very deep water so the whales are able to find their
30:55food close to the shore.
30:59In New Zealand waters, the bulls are busy growing and building up their reserves after swimming
31:05thousands of miles from the places where they were born.
31:15They won't reach sexual maturity for another decade when they're about twenty years old.
31:31Those tail flukes are an impressive thirteen feet across.
31:38The reason for the fertility here is revealed by the color of the sea.
31:43For nutrient-laden water wells up from the deep and mingles with cloudy, warmer currents enriched
31:49by runoff from the land.
31:54For the past six years, Steve Dawson and Elizabeth Slewton have been discovering a great deal about
32:01the behavior of the Kaikoura Bulls.
32:09Large schools of dusky dolphins, themselves little-toothed whales, reflect the high productivity of the southern sea.
32:37As soon as Steve and Liz start their observations, the dolphins disperse.
32:44Liz is especially accomplished at tracking sperm whales.
32:50Ah, great.
32:51I can hear three whales, Steve.
32:52Excellent.
32:56She's one of the few people capable of following them while they are feeding half a mile beneath the surface.
33:07Almost certainly, the New Zealand whales are down in the realm of that other deep-sea giant, the giant squid.
33:23But up above, there's evidence that the whale's basic diet is composed of much smaller creatures.
33:30Sperm whales are careless feeders, and some of their injured or half-eaten prey often floats to the surface.
33:53The whales thrive on huge quantities of squid, like this one, about three feet long.
33:59It's good from here, but we really need to take the beak out and find out for sure.
34:04One had the remains of 30,000 squid beaks in its stomach.
34:09That is a shame.
34:12Steve and Liz try to get close to identify every whale.
34:16Oh, here we go. We've got some slow clicks.
34:18So it could be up any minute now.
34:21Right. What side of the boat do you expect it up on?
34:23I'm expecting it up on that side. Not too far away. Shouldn't be too far.
34:31Yeah, I'm not hearing anything now. Should be up soon.
34:43Sure, his popsicle's pretty hard to mistake him, huh?
34:46Great.
34:49Yeah, he's really unmistakable. And he's a nice, steady clicker. He's quite easy to track.
34:55They've known popsicle for six years, and in that time he's grown an extra ten feet.
35:01Now they maneuver for a photograph, but are careful not to alarm him.
35:08Their technique is to keep the engine running so that the whales get used to the noise.
35:14Only when the whale breathes out is the prop engaged.
35:28Presumably the rush of air through his blowhole masks the sound of the small boat approaching from the rear.
35:42Liz and Steve maintain a meticulous photographic record of all the whales they see.
35:48The only portrait of any use for future recognition is that of the tail.
35:53Because the nicks and tears on the trailing edge are permanent.
36:05Okay, I'm on frame 27.
36:0827, okay.
36:11And I think this is ID film number two, actually.
36:14ID film number two, okay.
36:18By this painstaking research, they've been able to record hundreds of different sperm whales.
36:24Many, like popsicle, are old friends, and have been here on and off for several years, while others are transients.
36:42At any one time, there may be 80 in the vicinity of Kaikura, and most of them are adolescent bulls
36:50in their mid-teens to mid-twenties.
36:52Avidly feeding in the race to become sexually mature.
37:19Now and again, the largest of the Kaikura whales will head north to meet the females.
37:26Now and again, the largest of the Kaikura whales will head north to meet the females.
37:46900 miles west of Portugal lie the Azores, an island archipelago that rises from the mid-Atlantic ridge.
37:56This is another breeding area for sperm whales, and a favorite location for whale watchers.
38:09The silvery light built over a century ago when whaling vessels relied upon wind and sail has just arrived from
38:17England.
38:23Carol and Sherry and skipper David Redhead lead regular expeditions to these waters.
38:37On board this time is Jonathan Gordon's brother, Tom, who is here to try out something new.
38:45They steer for the so-called honey hole, where groups of sperm whales often gather.
38:59Bottlenose and common dolphins are heading for the same area.
39:06Suddenly the ocean is alive with the sounds of cetaceans.
39:13The whistles and squawks of dolphins and regular clicks of the sperm whales.
39:30For some reason, the dolphins harass the female whales and their calves, which at first close ranks.
39:42Despite their great size and strength, the whales seem to be unnerved by their smaller,
39:48but highly maneuverable cousins.
39:56This time the leviathans of the sea change course, turn on their flukes and flee.
40:16Why the dolphins choose to chase off the whales is difficult to imagine.
40:21Perhaps they're just being playful or mischievous.
40:24For the most part, whales and dolphins share the seas without signs of conflict.
40:36Since the sperm whales have been put to flight by the dolphins, the silvery light heads off in pursuit.
41:05A sudden surprise, a pair of white sperm whales turns out to be rare rats.
41:12A pair of white sperm whales and the rissos dolphins.
41:23Eventually a family of sperm whales is spotted.
41:27They've been active all morning.
41:29But now they're quietly resting in a characteristic logging formation.
41:38Tom decides to try out a method of approaching them once used by the open boat whalers of the Azores.
41:50He's going to row.
41:53Oars are quiet and apparently enable the whalers to sneak right up to their quarry.
42:02How will the whales react to this intrusion?
42:08With Carolyn in the bow, Tom manages to approach closer than he has ever been in a motorboat.
42:25They spot a plastic bag.
42:27Virtually indestructible, they're often mistaken by the whales for jellyfish.
42:32When swallowed, they can block the digestive system.
42:43This one has a heavy duty fishing line snagged in his jaws.
42:54Although these ocean trigger fish make use of the flotsam for shelter,
42:58sperm whales also drift in these flows and swallow all kinds of garbage.
43:07A fresh but fatally bitten octopus floats by, a crumb from the whale's feast.
43:14It's well over three feet long.
43:21Although rarely found alive, this octopus is wide ranging and occurs down to 6,000 feet.
43:28The damage inflicted by the sperm whale's teeth is clear.
43:39The whales show no particular concern at Tom and Carolyn's presence.
43:50We see a little件 Oh my god this is gross.
43:59Well, it's too close now It's their very first time this close to
44:14to the whales, and they make an interesting discovery.
44:17The whales can vocalize with their foreheads
44:20raised clear out of the water.
44:37One young whale decides to investigate
44:39and grabs the boat's tow rope.
44:44Oh, you can see he's got a crab on his head.
44:49That was close.
44:56That was close.
44:59That was friendly, though, you know.
45:00You can tip this out if you want to.
45:02Yeah.
45:03Give me a shot.
45:04Amazing. Enjoy that?
45:05Not really.
45:07No, I was a bit scared, actually.
45:10Follow them and do it again?
45:11Yeah, go on.
45:13Yeah, go on.
45:20Tom is astonished at how gentle and trusting the whales have been.
45:24But his discoveries have not come to an end, for there's an even greater surprise in store for them both.
45:33A white sperm whale, a baby Moby Dick.
45:37A white sperm whales are exceptionally rare.
45:56Only a few have been spotted this century.
45:58Little Moby isn't very old, because on his flanks, he still bears vertical crease marks, made when he was curled
46:06up in the wound.
46:28Tom can't resist the temptation to obtain a better view of little Moby.
46:33The females appear to be in a mellow mood, quite unconcerned about the dinghy that's lurking around the edge of
46:39their group.
46:40But the sperm whale's formidable reputation makes him cautious.
46:44There are many well-authenticated stories of these predators attacking people.
46:50One unfortunate whaler was even swallowed by a very large bull.
46:56But unlike Jonah, he did not escape.
47:02Even calves have chased experienced divers out of the water.
47:08And certainly, the powerful males have the potential to be very dangerous.
47:17Luckily, there are no big bulls in sight.
47:19So in the end, Tom feels confident that it's safe to go swimming.
47:47The females are very protective of their young, and Tom is unable to find the white calf.
48:26And he's not even sunk away from time, he completely
48:31Suddenly, there it is.
48:39Little Moby now explores the stranger who has entered his world.
49:16How was that?
49:17That was fantastic.
49:19That was amazing.
49:21Looked great.
49:23Whoa.
49:26I've never had a swim like that.
49:27That's amazing.
49:29Just so close, so many of them.
49:31Did you see the white one?
49:32Yeah, yeah.
49:34Have you got some photographs?
49:38It's been an extraordinary day for Tom Gordon.
49:42His first time in the water with the whales.
49:45His first experience of true contact.
49:52It's an experience he's eager to share with his brother Jonathan.
49:56Song of the Whale has made the crossing from the Caribbean to the Azores,
50:01bringing Jonathan Gordon back to a place he knows well.
50:05Yep.
50:14All right.
50:22The silvery light heads back out to sea to find the whales.
50:31And to give the Gordon brothers a chance to share with each other what they have learned.
50:53Back at the honey hole, the sperm whales are waiting for them.
51:04Now it's Jonathan's turn to be personally introduced.
51:07A meeting of families on the high seas.
51:28The whales are curious, even friendly.
51:57Jonathan has observed these whales for many years,
52:00and he quickly begins to recognize individuals.
52:27Finally, the brothers indulge in that most
52:30human of gestures, touching for the first time one of the great mysteries of the deep.
52:52There are strong pressures for the resumption of commercial whaling, so little Moby's survival is in the balance.
53:00Only if he's allowed to live for half a century will he become a magnificent white whale the size of
53:06Hal.
53:07A real Moby Dick.
53:11We would once have slaughtered a whale like this without a thought.
53:17But now, an enlightened and more respectful relationship has begun to emerge through watching whales.
53:25Already, it's begun to yield riches by illuminating not our lamps,
53:30but our sense of wonder of the creatures with which we share the world.
53:35The world.
53:52The people who are responsible for those of which we are looking for each week.
54:05The people who are trying to die firsthand isn't a young man or not.
54:05The people who are trying to die.
54:09To learn more about what you've seen on this nature program, visit PBS online at www.pbs.org.
54:22Major funding for nature is provided by the Park Foundation, dedicated to education and quality television.
54:35Major corporate support is made possible by Canon, in our dedication to the preservation of nature and its never-ending
54:43beauty.
54:44In photographs, you can capture the wild and leave it as you found it.
54:50By Ford Motor Company.
54:52Our new vehicles are made with more than 2 million tons of recycled metals, enough to build 250 Eiffel Towers
55:00a year.
55:01Ford Motor Company. Better ideas, driven by you.
55:05And by TIAA Craft.
55:08For 80 years, the thoughtful choice in financial services for people in education and research.