First Tristan sighting of a Pygmy Sperm Whale
Pygmy Sperm Whale
Kogia breviceps
Report from James Glass |
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| On the morning of the 19th January 2011, there was much excitement when it was reported by David Swain, who was working on a barge at the time, that a whale was in the harbour. It seemed impossible at the time, given that the harbour is less than 2m deep in places, but it was true. The harbour quickly become busy with everyone who had heard came for a look, the school children as well as others in the community. |
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Plans were put in place to try and get the whale (which was badly damaged) out of the harbour as quickly as possible. James and Robin, with the help of others got the Zodiac out of the boat house and was about to launch it when, Thomas Lafaille a Frenchman working for the CTBTO, who had a wetsuit in his car at the harbour, entered the water and after a few attempts managed to head the whale out to sea, through the 50ft entrance of the harbour. The whale beached itself again west of the volcano, and again managed to get off. It was not seen stranded again.
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| From the photos taken and sent to experts, it is thought to be a short-headed sperm whale (Kogia sp), which has not been recorded from the Tristan area before. There are two species, the Pygmy Sperm Whale Kogia breviceps and the Dwarf Sperm Whale Kogia sima. They are quite difficult to tell apart, but the pygmy is bigger (up to 3.3 m, compared to 2.74 m for the dwarf) and the dorsal fin is nearer the tail than the head, whereas in the dwarf it is about in the middle of the body. There are other differences but we would need other views of the mouth, teeth, dorsal fin, etc. They tend to be repeat stranders, so Islanders will be vigilant for other sightings to clarify identification. |
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