Comments on: Don't just stand there, fall asleep

Don't just stand there, fall asleep

spitbull — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:24:38 -0800

Researchers sneak up on sleeping sperm whales (.mpg video, hosted by Current Biology.) Matt Kaplan, writing in Nature, summarizes a 2008 article in Current Biology: "An accidental encounter with a pod of sleeping sperm whales has opened researchers' eyes to some unknown sleep behaviours of these giant sea creatures . . . A team led by Luke Rendell at the University of St Andrew's, UK, were monitoring calls and behaviour in sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) off the northern Chile coast when they accidentally drifted into the middle of a pod of whales hanging vertically in the water, their noses poking out of the surface. At least two of the whales were facing the boat, but not a single animal responded."

And there is this extraordinary photo of this phenomenon (not the same encounter, but it's a beautiful photo, by Magnus Lundgren for Wild Wonders of Europe). "Stereotypical resting behavior of the sperm whale," by Patrick J.O. Miller, , Kagari Aoki, Luke E. Rendell, and Masao Amano. (Current Biology, Vol. 18/1, Jan. 2008.). Alternate .mov version of video (appears to have no sound) on Nature's site.

By: spitbull

spitbull — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:27:14 -0800

Sorry, here is a direct link to the Lundgren photo. (It is on the bottom of the page linked above, in a gallery.)

By: spitbull

spitbull — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:32:44 -0800

Also, not to thread-sit, but you might want to turn the sound down in the linked video before it plays, as one of the researchers (?) on the boat has a mild freakout when they first see the whales.

By: christhelongtimelurker

christhelongtimelurker — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:35:16 -0800

So cool!

By: hal9k

hal9k — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:39:11 -0800

Sleeping? They're just low motility sperm whales.

By: louche mustachio

louche mustachio — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:39:30 -0800

Amazing. I am not used to seeing things floating in a vertical position. They look peaceful, but odd and otherworldly. Like giant exclamation points.

By: rmd1023

rmd1023 — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:41:01 -0800

Wow! That's very cool. I hadn't realized whales (at least sperm whales) need to actively work to remain horizontal.

By: ShutterBun

ShutterBun — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:51:45 -0800

Do sperm whales sleeping erect have wet dreams?

By: longdaysjourney

longdaysjourney — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:16:10 -0800

Woah, just had the strangest flashback to Star Trek IV.

By: Admira

Admira — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:17:24 -0800

Wikipedia has a great article on dolphin, porpoise and whale cognitive capabilities that I was just reading before I hit this article. Worth a read.

By: hal9k

hal9k — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:26:07 -0800

My flashback: "Hey! What's this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like ... ow ... ound ... round ... ground! That's it! That's a good name - ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me? "

By: Alnedra

Alnedra — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:27:50 -0800

Oh dear, first link has been overloaded. There was a name for this phenomenon of overloading websites that have been FPP'ed, but for the life of me I can't remember it.

By: lazaruslong

lazaruslong — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:28:53 -0800

Wow, incredible! Great post.

By: eustatic

eustatic — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:44:15 -0800

Wonderful! Bonny Schumaker has photographed Sperm Whales in the Gulf of Mexico in this position. I didn't know they were napping!

By: Justinian

Justinian — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:47:06 -0800

There was a name for this phenomenon of overloading websites that have been FPP'ed, but for the life of me I can't remember it. slashdotted.

By: spitbull

spitbull — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:47:59 -0800

OK, the last link is to a duplicate of the video (without sound) at Nature's site, which may be more robust than Elsevier's site for CB.

By: carter

carter — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 18:08:25 -0800

It's neat that they all decide to sleep at the same time.

By: indubitable

indubitable — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:17:13 -0800

Yeah, don't be shy about watching the one without sound. The sound track doesn't add much beyond the idea that it's pretty terrifying to be up in a bosun's chair while drifting over massive, powerful sea creatures.

By: Mezentian

Mezentian — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:49:30 -0800

I propose a new plan: 1. Sneak up on sleeping sperm whales 2. Put them on scanners. 3. ?

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:53:42 -0800

Phase 3 is clearly: Put stacks of giant pancakes on their heads.

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:12:27 -0800

I assumed that the researcher's "mild freakout" was bosun's chair related too - sleeping whales or no sleeping whales, bosun's are no fun.

By: Alice Russel-Wallace

Alice Russel-Wallace — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:23:28 -0800

It's neat that they all decide to sleep at the same time. As an evolutionary biologist, I found it very interesting that they were sleeping in groups AND that there were clearly a couple of whales that weren't asleep. There's this dandy little theory called The Dilution Effect, which basically says that individuals benefit from hanging out in groups. Think of it this way, if you're one sperm whale sleeping in the ocean and one of your predators happens to pass you by, you have a 100% chance of being attached (give or take). If you're one sperm whale sleeping in the ocean with 9 other companions when that predator comes along, then you have a 10% chance of being the first one to be attacked. So it makes sense to sleep in a group. HOWEVER, there were clearly 1-3 individuals who were awake in the video, which suggests that perhaps there is something more complex going on here. Awesome stuff!

By: maryr

maryr — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:26:29 -0800

Heh, yeah, I was wondering if the videographer was freaked out by the whales or the height.

By: arcticseal

arcticseal — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:47:33 -0800

I'm pretty sure that sneaking up on sperm whales will get you a restraining order in some jurisdictions.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:55:08 -0800

Phase 3 is clearly: Put stacks of giant pancakes on their heads. Then wake them up and make YouTube video of Sperm Whale and Wombat are Friends Who Chase the Lazer. Then take still pictures and caption with gnomic statements of idiosyncratic grammar and spelling. Next stop I Can Haz Ambergris In My Lucid Dreamz media empire.

By: 445supermag

445supermag — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:02:50 -0800

Amazing. I am not used to seeing things floating in a vertical position. Probably vertical because their heads are full of spermaceti.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:48:37 -0800

Visit from an Infant Sperm Whale

By: Celsius1414

Celsius1414 — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 22:09:50 -0800

Sperm whales: the Uranus of the oceans.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 22:13:30 -0800

I thought whales slept in a half-cortex way so they were never fully out? Maybe that's just some dolphins.

By: davidpriest.ca

davidpriest.ca — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 22:14:47 -0800

Attention: Do not startle the sleeping whales.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 22:16:58 -0800

or was it cortex who sleeps in a half-whale manner?

By: delmoi

delmoi — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 22:17:22 -0800

I thought whales slept in a half-cortex way so they were never fully out? Maybe that's just some dolphins.

I thought that was birds. (looking it up, it's birds and whales, but not sperm whales, apparently)

By: Kid Charlemagne

Kid Charlemagne — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 00:40:29 -0800

HOWEVER, there were clearly 1-3 individuals who were awake in the video, which suggests that perhaps there is something more complex going on here. Well you can't put the rogue and the mage on the same watch - it's obvious their in cahoots! Have the mage stand watch with the paladin and the rogue with the ranger.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 00:54:17 -0800

Time to make contact.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 01:43:07 -0800

Well, the polite thing to do is to introduce yourself and ask for their names.

By: Splunge

Splunge — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 01:51:46 -0800

I know it's late when I see a pod of sperm whales sleeping and the first thing I think is, "They're so cute when they're asleep."

By: mightshould

mightshould — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 04:40:13 -0800

Having one or two awake while the rest sleep is ordinary behavior in herds of horses or other prey animals: helps to have a lookout to warn about possible predators. Perhaps the pod of whales follows a similar habit and the researchers weren't perceived as predators.

By: spitbull

spitbull — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 05:10:32 -0800

Practically the only predators of concern to Sperm whales are Orcas hunting in pods (even so, mighty rare because Orcas know better) and people in boats.

By: BadMiker

BadMiker — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 05:56:07 -0800

Dammit, when are we going to figure out how to speak to them?! I'm not saying its easy, apart from anything else since they 'see' with sound they could be speaking pictures, but if there is a pattern there we must be able to figure it out. Then we can ask them about the giant squid...

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 06:48:15 -0800

Then we can ask them about the giant squid... Their answer: "What, calamari? Delicious!"

By: Nomyte

Nomyte — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 08:09:10 -0800

Are we sure this isn't a pod of fainting sperm whales?

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:00:25 -0800

the sperm whales where when you clap your hands at them or show them their favorite treat they just keel over? THE CUTEST WHALES EVAR

By: Devils Slide

Devils Slide — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:21:37 -0800

Very interesting. So little is known about the behavior most marine mammals in their natural habitat. There was a brilliant Canadian (documentary) TV series called Champions of the Wild, and in each episode they followed a dedicated researcher/biologist studying a different species. Amazing that despite making it their life's work to observe a given species, most of the researchers knew very little about the animals they were studying and were just beginning to scratch the surface. One memorable episode was about a biologist who studied northern elephant seals on the California coast. Elephant seals only come ashore to give birth and nurse their young for a brief period (two weeks to a month, I think) before heading back out to sea. They also take that opportunity (coming ashore) to mate and conceive the next year's young. Anyhow, the researcher tried to glean a little information about elephant seals' behavior at sea since virtually nothing was known about it, and invented/built a GPS tracking device which he attached to some seals. The data he received surprised him. It showed that the seals spent their entire time at sea making very deep dives in order to feed, and then would spend 5-15 minutes at the surface before diving again for 45-55 minutes. They did this relentlessly, over and over again for their entire time at sea, taking NO TIME to sleep, unless if they were catching a few quick winks as they were oxygenating their lungs for a few brief minutes before diving deep again.

By: maryr

maryr — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:16:40 -0800

You can tell they didn't faint because none of them have a fin draped dramatically over their eyes. Also, no fainting couches.

By: IAmBroom

IAmBroom — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:33:37 -0800

That's nothing. You should see what happens if you sprinkle salt on their tails.