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Animal Weight

How much does a Sperm whale weight?

It is hard to guess what a Sperm whale weights. But we have the answer:

An adult Sperm whale (Physeter catodon) on average weights 14527.31 kg (32027.19 lbs).

The Sperm whale is from the family Physeteridae (genus: Physeter). It is usually born with about 903.14 kg (1991.09 lbs). They can live for up to 77 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 12.18 meter (40′ 0″).

As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.

The average adult weight of a Sperm whale is 14527.31 kg (32027.19 lbs)

The sperm whale or cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant species in the sperm whale family, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale of the genus Kogia.The sperm whale is a pelagic mammal with a worldwide range, and will migrate seasonally for feeding and breeding. Females and young males live together in groups, while mature males (bulls) live solitary lives outside of the mating season. The females cooperate to protect and nurse their young. Females give birth every four to 20 years, and care for the calves for more than a decade. A mature sperm whale has few natural predators, although calves and weakened adults are sometimes killed by pods of killer whales (orcas).Mature males average 16 metres (52 ft) in length but some may reach 20.7 metres (68 ft), with the head representing up to one-third of the animal’s length. Plunging to 2,250 metres (7,382 ft), it is the third deepest diving mammal, exceeded only by the Southern elephant seal and Cuvier’s beaked whale. The sperm whale uses echolocation and vocalization as loud as 230 decibels (re 1 µPa m) underwater. It has the largest brain on Earth, more than five times heavier than a human’s. Sperm whales can live 70 years or more.Spermaceti (sperm oil), from which the whale derives its name, was a prime target of the whaling industry, and was sought after for use in oil lamps, lubricants, and candles. Ambergris, a solid waxy waste product sometimes present in its digestive system, is still highly valued as a fixative in perfumes, among other uses. Beachcombers look out for ambergris as flotsam. Sperm whaling was a major industry in the 19th century, depicted in the novel Moby-Dick. The species is protected by the International Whaling Commission moratorium, and is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Animals of the same family as a Sperm whale

We found other animals of the Physeteridae family:

Animals with the same size as a Sperm whale

Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Sperm whale:

Animals with the same life expectancy as a Sperm whale

Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Sperm whale: