When I was a child, I was constantly yearning to learn more about the vast oceans and the life they harbor. I did everything I could to learn more about the brilliant underwater world: I read books, watched documentaries, read magazines, watched television shows, researched online, and watched YouTube videos. Two of the organisms that I remember well are the gargantuan sperm whale and the elusive giant squid.
When you think of a whale, which whale pops into your mind? Most likely, you thought of a humpback whale or a blue whale. Now picture one of these two whales. What are they missing that most fish and marine mammals have? Teeth! Instead of teeth, blue and humpback whales have something called baleen that helps them filter feed. What is unique about sperm whales is that they have teeth and, in fact, are the largest toothed whale. This title is quite deserving because they can grow up to almost 80 feet (That’s the same as the height of an 8 story building)! Sperm whales also hold another record; They have the widest distribution of all marine mammals and can be found from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Ever wonder where sperm whales got their admittedly weird name from? Turns out, their name comes from spermaceti, a white waxy substance found in the heads of sperm whales. This substance was the reason why fishermen and whaleboats would hunt for sperm whales. The spermaceti was used to make candles and to fuel oil lamps, alongside many other uses.
Moving onto the giant squid (not to be confused with the colossal squid). These magnificent creatures grow to about half the size of the sperm whale. However, what they lack in length, they make up for in eye size. Giant squids have the largest eyes — about the size of a dinner plate — in the animal kingdom. Another remarkable feature that giant squids possess are their two long feeding tentacles as seen in the diagram beneath this paragraph. These two tentacles, alongside the eight other shorter tentacles, are lined with suckers equipped with razor-sharp teeth. Giant squids are able to grab and lacerate prey from far distances and once they grab the prey, they push it towards their beaks (yes, squids have beaks) for consumption.
A question you may be asking yourself is how these two creatures relate to each other? The answer to this question is the reason why I know about these organisms to begin with; an epic battle ensues when they happen to cross each other’s paths. Admittedly, this battle is quite one sided. The sperm whale almost always ends up swimming away with a full belly. However, this full belly does not come for free. As any fish or animal would, the giant squid does not go down without a fierce and bloody fight. The sperm whale and giant squid wrestle around in the deep sea fighting for control over one another. The razor-sharp teeth that line the giant squid’s tentacles thrash around and slice the sperm whale’s face open. Given that the sperm whale has not given up, they are eventually able to catch the giant squid in their jaws and then bring the exhausting and painful fight to a close. The price the sperm whales must pay for this substantial of a meal comes in the form of battle scars. Many sperm whales can be observes with a copious amount of scares around their mouth and face. Is the fight with the giant squids worth it for the sperm whales? The whales seem to think so because this behavior has been recorded on numerous occasions. Hopefully you thought that reading this blog post was worth it, and gained an appreciation for these magnificent and fascination creatures.
Hey! After reading this post, I was gladly informed about the sperm whale and giant squid. I kinda heard about both creatures but I never realized how similar they are and not to mention, how big they are! I find it interesting how you highlighted both creatures and gave a brief overview of them. What surprised me that both of the creatures fight each other for power. I didn’t know that! It also surprised me that the size of a the Giant squid’s eye is that huge! Its kind of scary lol but overall I think this is a interesting blog!
The blog really brought me to another world, especially the description of that fight really made words react to the bloody fight in the deep sea! But just out of curiosity, as you mentioned how the giant squid doesn’t win often, then what can be its purpose in fighting this not-winnable fight? And on some rare occasions, how would the squid win?
Great questions! The Giant Squid knows it’s a losing battle so they are basically just trying to get away from the Sperm Whale. Think of it like holding an unwilling cat in your arms and the cat is scratching at you and trying to jump down to the ground. The cat is like the squid and your arms are like the jaws of a sperm whale. The only way the Squid “wins” is if it is able to make a getaway without being fatally wounded. Hope this clears it up!