Study
Deep-diving foraging behaviour of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)
Watwood, Stephanie L.; Miller, Patrick J. O.; Johnson, Mark; Madsen, Peter T.; Tyack, Peter L.
Journal of Animal Ecology, 2006
Sound-and-movement recording tags were attached by suction cup to sperm whales in three ocean regions, logging depth, orientation and the animal's own vocalisations continuously through complete dive cycles.
- Studied in
- Physeter macrocephalus
- Sample size
- 37 whales carrying suction-cup acoustic and depth recording tags
Whales spent roughly three quarters of their time in foraging dive cycles, typically reaching 400–1,200 metres for around 45 minutes, followed by about nine minutes at the surface. Echolocation clicking began shortly after descent and continued through the deep phase, with rapid click buzzes marking prey capture attempts. Dive depth and duration were consistent across regions despite differing prey.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Sperm whales are near-continuous deep foragers whose dive parameters are constrained more by their own physiology than by local prey distribution.
How NatureHQ reads it
The tag record replaces a lot of guesswork with a timetable, and the timetable is the striking part: three quarters of life spent in a cycle of descending a kilometre, hunting in the dark for three quarters of an hour, and surfacing for nine minutes before doing it again. The buzzes are the most useful detail, because a rapid click train immediately before a manoeuvre is a prey capture attempt you can count. That is how foraging success became measurable in an animal nobody can watch.
- Tags stay attached for hours, so the sample is of days rather than of seasons.
- Tagged animals are predominantly from accessible populations and skewed by sex and age.
- Prey capture is inferred from acoustic buzzes and body movement, not observed.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Wiley journalsPublished in a Wiley journal.
doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01101.x
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-11.