FORT MORGAN – A dead male sperm whale of an estimated size of 38 feet was found beached ashore on the morning of Dec. 29.

Angela Levins, Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s (DISL) public relations director, said the whale was “severely scavenged” and has now been “buried in a non-disclosed, state-owned location.”

According to an AL.com article on the whale, “beachgoers noticed the whale early Sunday morning near the Beach Club Resort & Spa in Fort Morgan, following heavy storms in the area over the weekend.”

Levins told Gulf Coast Media the whale was in a “highly decomposed condition” and sample collection was limited. She said it could take months to analyze the samples that were collected.

According to a DISL statement in a GCM article on a previous whale stranding, samples are taken to be sent to laboratories to be tested for infections, toxic substances or other factors that might have led to the animal’s death.

Levins encouraged locals and visitors to report whale strandings by calling 1-877-WHALE HELP (877-942-5343).

The AL.com article also listed numbers for reports of encounters with injured, misplaced or dead animals.

For Sea Turtles: 866- SEA-TURTLE (866-732-8878)
For Marine Mammals (dolphin, whale or manatee): 877-942-5343
For Orange Beach Wildlife (shore/other birds): 844-303-9453

Reporting these sightings are important as some groups, such as DISL, are researching these animals' patterns. Levins said DISL is working with other groups across the Gulf of Mexico to study sperm whale strandings "to understand causes of mortality for these animals better."

Levins said the Gulf of Mexico typically sees two sperm whale strandings each year, with the last one spotted in Alabama being in November 2020. She said sperm whales currently are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act and depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. There are around 1,000 sperm whales in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

DID YOU KNOW THIS ABOUT SPERM WHALES?

• Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales with one of the widest global distributions of any marine mammal species. They are found in all deep oceans, from the equator to the edge of the pack ice in the Arctic and Antarctic.
• They hunt for food during deep dives that routinely reach depths of 2,000 feet and can last for 45 minutes but they are capable of diving to 10,000 feet for over 60 minutes.
• They are named after the waxy substance, spermaceti, found in their heads. Spermaceti was used in oil lamps, lubricants and candles. Sperm whales were a prime target of the commercial whaling industry from 1800 to 1987.
• Male sperm whales can grow up to about 52 feet, and female sperm whales can grow up to around 35 feet. Females stop growing around 30 years while the males stop growing around 50 years. Their heads account for a third of their total body length.

SPERM WHALES IN THE GULF OF MEXICO

• Tracks from 39 whales satellite tagged in the northern Gulf of Mexico found no discernable seasonal migrations, but Gulf-wide movements primarily along the north Gulf slope did occur.
• The tracks showed whales exhibit a range of movement patterns within the Gulf, including movement into the southern Gulf in a few cases, but that only one whale (a male) left the Gulf of Mexico. This animal moved into the North Atlantic and then back into the Gulf after about two months.
• Additionally, no matches were found when 285 individual whales’ photo-identified from the Gulf and about 2,500 from the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea were compared.
• The best recent abundance estimate for the northern Gulf of Mexico sperm whale is 1,180 (CV=0.22). The minimum population estimate for the northern Gulf of Mexico sperm whale stock is 983.

* Data provided by Angela Levins, Dauphin Island Sea Lab