Two Kilometers Down, Sperm Whales Fight Squid as Long as a Bus
The squid weighs 750 kilograms and leaves sucker scars on the whales.
RealLifeLore · The Ocean is Way Deeper Than You ThinkTwo kilometers down, sperm whales fight colossal squid as long as a bus.
At 2,250 meters below the surface, both animals reach the deepest water they are known to dive, and that is probably where they meet. Sperm whales often carry round marks on their skin that likely came from battles with the squid at these depths.
The squid can grow to 14 meters long, about the length of a city bus, with a weight reaching 750 kilograms. It has eyes the size of dinner plates, the better to see in the black, plus sharp hooks set among its tentacles for grabbing and tearing.
Sunlight does not reach below about 1,000 meters, so the fight happens in total darkness.
Questions people ask
How can a whale dive more than two kilometers on one breath?
Adult sperm whales are much larger, with males reaching about 16 to 20 meters and 40,000 to 50,000 kilograms. They dive on one breath, slowing their heart rate and storing oxygen in muscle and blood, and they hunt by echolocation, making clicking sounds and listening for the echo in total darkness.
Is a colossal squid the same as a giant squid?
No. The colossal squid is heavier and has larger eyes than the giant squid, its better known cousin. Giant squid can be longer because of their two long feeding tentacles, but colossal squid are thicker, heavier, and armed with swiveling hooks.
If they live so deep, how do we know about them?
Sperm whales eat a lot of deep sea squid, and scientists learn about the squid mostly from beaks found in whale stomachs and from scars on whale skin. Live colossal squid are rarely seen because they live so deep, so much of what we know comes from those leftovers and a few intact specimens caught in Antarctic waters.