Photograph by Tord Karlsen
Barba.
Photograph by Tord Karlsen
Jonathan Gordon, who has spent the past 30 years studying sperm whales and is a Research Fellow at the University of St. Andrews’ Sea Mammal Research Unit, understands this is due to feeding opportunities. “Males leave as they mature and are found closer to the poles. The feeling is that the feeding must be better as they tend to grow a lot larger than females,” he says. “But if you ask for hard evidence that the feeding conditions are better, well – there really isn’t much.”
Tiu Similä, a Finnish scientist who pioneered long-term orca research in Norway, works closely with Gordon and has studied sperm whales in the Andenes region since 2016. “There is so much we do not know about the male sperm whales,” she says. “What is their diet? What is their habitat use pattern? How solitary or social are they? Do they compete, cooperate or maybe both?”