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93-583: The fjord is about 60 kilometres (37 mi) long, has a maximum width of 30 kilometres (19 mi), and has a maximum depth of 517 metres (1,696 ft) which makes it a rich feeding ground for Sperm whales and Killer whales . Whale safaris are run from Andenes and from Krøttøya . Several other fjords branch off the Andfjorden including the Kvæfjorden, Godfjorden, and the Vågsfjorden . At

186-624: 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 . The name "sperm whale" is a clipping of "spermaceti whale". Spermaceti , originally mistakenly identified as

279-400: A and b) of 25% or more with rapid progression (category a) within 60 minutes of ejaculation. A 2005 review of the literature found that the average reported physical and chemical properties of human semen were as follows: Semen is typically translucent with white, grey or even yellowish tint. Blood in the semen can cause a pink or reddish colour, known as hematospermia , and may indicate

372-452: A deep sleep for about 7 percent of the time, most often between 6 p.m. and midnight. Sperm whales have 21 pairs of chromosomes ( 2n=42 ). The genome of live whales can be examined by recovering shed skin. After Valentine Worthington and William E. Schevill confirmed the existence of sperm whale vocalization, further studies found that sperm whales are capable of emitting sounds at a source level of 230 decibels   –   making

465-424: A down force of about 392 newtons (88 lb f ) and allows the whale to dive with less effort. During the hunt, oxygen consumption, together with blood vessel dilation, produces heat and melts the spermaceti, increasing its buoyancy and enabling easy surfacing. However, more recent work has found many problems with this theory including the lack of anatomical structures for the actual heat exchange. Another issue

558-406: A form of energy called 精 ( pinyin : jīng, also a morpheme denoting "essence" or "spirit") – which one attempts to develop and accumulate. " Jing " is sexual energy and is considered to dissipate with ejaculation, so masturbation is considered "energy suicide" amongst those who practice this art. According to Qigong theory, energy from many pathways/meridians becomes diverted and transfers itself to

651-415: A human's. Sperm whales can live 70 years or more. Sperm whales' heads are filled with a waxy substance called " spermaceti " (sperm oil), from which the whale derives its name. Spermaceti 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

744-506: A liquid mixture of fats and waxes called spermaceti . The purpose of this complex is to generate powerful and focused clicking sounds, the existence of which was proven by Valentine Worthington and William Schevill when a recording was produced on a research vessel in May 1959. The sperm whale uses these sounds for echolocation and communication. The spermaceti organ is like a large barrel of spermaceti. Its surrounding wall, known as

837-531: A long time once outside the body. The presence of blood in semen or hematospermia may be undetectable (it can only be seen microscopically) or visible in the fluid. Its cause could be the result of inflammation , infection , blockage, or injury of the male reproductive tract or a problem within the urethra , testicles , epididymis or prostate . It usually clears up without treatment, or with antibiotics , but if persistent further semen analysis and other urogenital system tests might be needed to find out

930-408: A medical problem which should be evaluated by a doctor if the symptom persists. After ejaculation, the latter part of the ejaculated semen coagulates immediately, forming globules, while the earlier part of the ejaculate typically does not. After a period typically ranging from 15 to 30 minutes, prostate-specific antigen present in the semen causes the decoagulation of the seminal coagulum. It

1023-496: A number of mythologies around the world, semen is often considered analogous to breast milk . In the traditions of Bali, it is considered to be the returning or refunding of the milk of the mother in an alimentary metaphor. The wife feeds her husband who returns to her his semen, the milk of human kindness. Nancy Friday 's book, Men in Love – Men's Sexual Fantasies: The Triumph of Love over Rage (1982), suggests that swallowing semen

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1116-425: A number of specific adaptations for the aquatic environment. The diameter of the aortic arch increases as it leaves the heart. This bulbous expansion acts as a windkessel , ensuring a steady blood flow as the heart rate slows during diving. The arteries that leave the aortic arch are positioned symmetrically. There is no costocervical artery . There is no direct connection between the internal carotid artery and

1209-634: A study with Swedish and Danish men, a prolonged interval between ejaculations caused an increase in the sperm count in the semen but not an increase in the semen volume. Semen can be stored in diluents such as the Illini Variable Temperature (IVT) diluent, which have been reported to be able to preserve high fertility of semen for over seven days. The IVT diluent is composed of several salts, sugars and antibacterial agents and gassed with CO 2 . Semen cryopreservation can be used for far longer storage durations. For human sperm,

1302-417: Is a measure of fertility in a man. It is the sperm in the semen that is the fertile component, and therefore semen quality involves both sperm quantity and sperm quality. The volume of semen ejaculate varies but is generally about 1 teaspoonful or less. A review of 30 studies concluded that the average was around 3.4 milliliters (mL), with some studies finding amounts as high as 5.0 mL or as low as 2.3 mL. In

1395-410: Is achieved through the physical mating of the cloaca of the male and female. In marsupial and placental mammals , copulation occurs through the vagina . In macropods , semen coagulates and forms a mating plug in the vagina after copulation. During the process of ejaculation , sperm passes through the ejaculatory ducts and mixes with fluids from the seminal vesicles , the prostate , and

1488-566: Is cited by some authors as the largest accurately measured. It has been estimated to weigh 80 tonnes (79 long tons; 88 short tons). In a review of size variation in marine megafauna, McClain and colleagues noted that the International Whaling Commission's data contained eight individuals larger than 20.7 metres (68 ft). The authors supported a 24-metre (79 ft) male from the South Pacific in 1933 as

1581-429: Is considered a form of miasma , and ritual purification was to be practised after its discharge. In some pre-industrial societies, semen and other body fluids were revered because they were believed to be magical. Blood is an example of such a fluid, but semen was also widely believed to be of supernatural origin and effect and was, as a result, considered holy or sacred. The ancient Sumerians believed that semen

1674-401: Is estimated to have weighed 57 tonnes (56 long tons; 63 short tons). By contrast, the second largest toothed whale ( Baird's beaked whale ) measures up to 12.8 meters (42 ft) and weighs up to 14 tonnes (15 short tons). There are occasional reports of individual sperm whales achieving even greater lengths, with some historical claims reaching or exceeding 80 feet (24 m). One example

1767-575: Is high on a man's intimacy scale. When the British Secret Intelligence Service discovered that semen made a good invisible ink , Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming noted of his agents that "Every man (is) his own stylo ". The Borborites , also known as the Phibionites, were an early Christian Gnostic sect during the late fourth century AD whose alleged practices involving sacred semen are described by

1860-421: Is not the only factor. Elephants and dolphins also have larger brains than humans. The sperm whale has a lower encephalization quotient than many other whale and dolphin species, lower than that of non-human anthropoid apes , and much lower than that of humans. The sperm whale's cerebrum is the largest in all mammalia, both in absolute and relative terms. The olfactory system is reduced, suggesting that

1953-406: Is postulated that the initial clotting helps keep the semen in the vagina, while liquefaction frees the sperm to make their journey to the ova. A 2005 review found that the average reported viscosity of human semen in the literature was 3–7 centipoises (cP), or, equivalently, millipascal-seconds (mPa·s). Semen quality is a measure of the ability of semen to accomplish fertilization. Thus, it

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2046-476: Is that if the spermaceti does indeed cool and solidify, it would affect the whale's echolocation ability just when it needs it to hunt in the depths. Herman Melville 's fictional story Moby-Dick suggests that the "case" containing the spermaceti serves as a battering ram for use in fights between males. A few famous instances include the well-documented sinking of the ships Essex and Ann Alexander by attackers estimated to weigh only one-fifth as much as

2139-425: Is that the teeth are used in aggression between males. Mature males often show scars which seem to be caused by the teeth . Rudimentary teeth are also present in the upper jaw, but these rarely emerge into the mouth. Analyzing the teeth is the preferred method for determining a whale's age. Like the age-rings in a tree, the teeth build distinct layers of cementum and dentine as they grow. The sperm whale brain

2232-399: Is the largest known of any modern or extinct animal, weighing on average about 7.8 kilograms (17 lb) (with the smallest known weighing 6.4 kilograms (14 lb) and the largest known weighing 9.2 kilograms (20 lb)), more than five times heavier than a human brain , and has a volume of about 8,000 cm . Although larger brains generally correlate with higher intelligence, it

2325-505: 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

2418-539: Is the whale that sank the Essex (one of the incidents behind Moby-Dick ), which was claimed to be 85 feet (26 m). However, there is disagreement as to the accuracy of some of these claims, which are often considered exaggerations or as being measured along the curves of the body. An individual measuring 20.7 metres (68 ft) was reported from a Soviet whaling fleet near the Kuril Islands in 1950 and

2511-563: Is unlikely to be confused with any other species. The sperm whale's distinctive shape comes from its very large, block-shaped head, which can be one-quarter to one-third of the animal's length. The S-shaped blowhole is located very close to the front of the head and shifted to the whale's left. This gives rise to a distinctive bushy, forward-angled spray. The sperm whale's flukes (tail lobes) are triangular and very thick. Proportionally, they are larger than that of any other cetacean, and are very flexible. The whale lifts its flukes high out of

2604-442: Is very acidic (from the native microflora producing lactic acid ), viscous, and patrolled by immune cells. The components in the seminal plasma attempt to compensate for this hostile environment. Basic amines such as putrescine , spermine , spermidine and cadaverine are responsible for the smell and flavor of semen. These alkaline bases counteract and buffer the acidic environment of the vaginal canal, and protect DNA inside

2697-631: Is very thick and contains a fibrous tapetum lucidum . Like other toothed whales, the sperm whale can retract and protrude its eyes, thanks to a 2-cm-thick retractor muscle attached around the eye at the equator, but are unable to roll the eyes in their sockets. According to Fristrup and Harbison (2002), sperm whale's eyes afford good vision and sensitivity to light. They conjectured that sperm whales use vision to hunt squid, either by detecting silhouettes from below or by detecting bioluminescence. If sperm whales detect silhouettes, Fristrup and Harbison suggested that they hunt upside down, allowing them to use

2790-485: Is 精子 (pinyin: jīng zǐ, literally: basic element of essence/jing), two modern terms with classical referents. In Ayurveda , semen is said to be made from forty drops of blood. It is considered to be the end of the food digestion cycle. One of the key aspects of Hindu religion is abstinence called brahmacharya . It can be lifelong or during a specific period or on specific days. Brahmacharya attaches great importance to semen retention. Many yogic texts also indicate

2883-527: The Logos spermatikos ("seminal word") as the principle of active reason that fecundated passive matter . The Jewish philosopher Philo similarly spoke in sexual terms of the Logos as the masculine principle of reason that sowed seeds of virtue in the feminine soul. The Christian Platonist Clement of Alexandria likened the Logos to physical blood as the "substance of the soul", and noted that some held "that

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2976-687: The Greek physētēr ( φυσητήρ ), meaning 'blowpipe, blowhole (of a whale)', or – as a pars pro toto – 'whale'. The specific name macrocephalus is Latinized from the Greek makroképhalos ( μακροκέφαλος 'big-headed'), from makros ( μακρός ) + kephalē ( κεφαλή ). Its synonymous specific name catodon means 'down-tooth', from the Greek elements cat(a)- ('below') and odṓn ('tooth'); so named because it has visible teeth only in its lower jaw. ( See " Jaws and teeth " below. ) Another synonym australasianus (' Australasian ')

3069-413: The bulbourethral glands to form the semen. The seminal vesicles produce a yellowish viscous fluid rich in fructose and other substances that makes up about 70% of human semen. The prostatic secretion, influenced by dihydrotestosterone, is a whitish (sometimes clear), thin fluid containing proteolytic enzymes, citric acid, acid phosphatase and lipids. The bulbourethral glands secrete a clear secretion into

3162-477: The case , is extremely tough and fibrous. The case can hold within it up to 1,900 litres of spermaceti. It is proportionately larger in males. This oil is a mixture of triglycerides and wax esters . It has been suggested that it is homologous to the dorsal bursa organ found in dolphins. The proportion of wax esters in the spermaceti organ increases with the age of the whale: 38–51% in calves, 58–87% in adult females, and 71–94% in adult males. The spermaceti at

3255-425: The male accessory glands and is discharged from the penis through the urethral orifice during ejaculation . In humans, seminal fluid contains several components besides spermatozoa: proteolytic and other enzymes as well as fructose are elements of seminal fluid which promote the survival of spermatozoa and provide a medium through which they can move or "swim". The fluid is adapted to be discharged deep into

3348-453: The seminal vesicle , prostate glands , and the bulbourethral glands , produce most of the seminal fluid. Seminal plasma of humans contains a complex range of organic and inorganic constituents. The seminal plasma provides a nutritive and protective medium for the spermatozoa during their journey through the female reproductive tract. The normal environment of the vagina is a hostile one (c.f. sexual conflict ) for sperm cells, as it

3441-405: The sperm from acidic denaturation. The components and contributions of semen are as follows: A 1992 World Health Organization report described normal human semen as having a volume of 2 mL or greater, pH of 7.2 to 8.0, sperm concentration of 20×10 spermatozoa/mL or more, sperm count of 40×10 spermatozoa per ejaculate or more, and motility of 50% or more with forward progression (categories

3534-467: The vagina , so the spermatozoa can pass into the uterus and form a zygote with an egg. Semen is collected from animals for artificial insemination or cryoconservation of genetic material. Cryoconservation of animal genetic resources is a practice that calls for the collection of semen in efforts for conservation of a particular breed. Depending on the species , spermatozoa can fertilize ova externally or internally. In external fertilization ,

3627-707: The ancient world". In some cultures, semen is considered to have special properties associated with masculinity . Several tribes of Papua New Guinea , including the Sambia and the Etoro , believe that semen promotes sexual maturation among the younger men of their tribe. To them, semen possesses the manly nature of the tribal elders, and in order to pass down their authority and powers, younger men of their next generation must fellate their elders and ingest their semen. Prepubescent and postpubescent males are required to engage in this practice. This act may also be associated with

3720-401: The animal semen is substantially foam of its blood". Clement reflected an early Christian view that "the seed ought not be wasted nor scattered thoughtlessly nor sown in a way it cannot grow." Women were believed to have their own version, which was stored in the womb and released during climax. Retention was believed to cause female hysteria . In ancient Greek religion as a whole, semen

3813-401: The animal's length. Plunging to 2,250 metres (7,380 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 with source level as loud as 236 decibels (re 1 μPa m) underwater, the loudest of any animal. It has the largest brain on Earth, more than five times heavier than

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3906-417: The brain and other essential organs when oxygen levels deplete. The spermaceti organ may also play a role by adjusting buoyancy (see below ). The arterial retia mirabilia are extraordinarily well-developed. The complex arterial retia mirabilia of the sperm whale are more extensive and larger than those of any other cetacean. Atop the whale's skull is positioned a large complex of organs filled with

3999-431: The cause. In rare circumstances, humans can develop an allergy to semen, called human seminal plasma sensitivity. It appears as a typical localized or systemic allergic response upon contact with seminal fluid. There is no one protein in semen responsible for the reaction. Symptoms can appear after first intercourse or after subsequent intercourse. A semen allergy can be distinguished from a latex allergy by determining if

4092-415: The core of the organ has a higher wax content than the outer areas. The speed of sound in spermaceti is 2,684 m/s (at 40 kHz, 36 °C), making it nearly twice as fast as in the oil in a dolphin's melon . Below the spermaceti organ lies the "junk" which consists of compartments of spermaceti separated by cartilage. It is analogous to the melon found in other toothed whales. The structure of

4185-448: The culturally active homosexuality throughout these and other tribes. Semen ingestion has had central importance in some cultures around the world. In Baruya culture, there is a secret ritual in which boys give fellatio to young males and drink their semen, to "re-engender themselves before marriage". There are several sexual practices involving the ingestion of semen, which may be done with one or more partners. Practices involving

4278-801: The early Christian heretic-hunter Epiphanius of Salamis in his Panarion . Epiphanius claims that the Borborites had a sacred text called the Greater Questions of Mary , which contained an episode in which, during a post-resurrection appearance, Jesus took Mary Magdalene to the top of a mountain, where he pulled a woman out of his side and engaged in sexual intercourse with her. Then, upon ejaculating , Jesus drank his own semen and told Mary, "Thus we must do, that we may live." Upon hearing this, Mary instantly fainted, to which Jesus responded by helping her up and telling her, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" This story

4371-422: The echoes. A continuous fat-filled canal transmits received sounds to the inner ear. Semen Semen , also known as seminal fluid , is a bodily fluid that contains spermatozoa . Spermatozoa are secreted by the male gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum . In placental mammals , semen also contains secretions from

4464-507: The family Physeteridae . Two species of the related extant genus Kogia , the pygmy sperm whale Kogia breviceps and the dwarf sperm whale K. sima , are placed either in this family or in the family Kogiidae . In some taxonomic schemes the families Kogiidae and Physeteridae are combined as the superfamily Physeteroidea (see the separate entry on the sperm whale family ). Swedish ichthyologist Peter Artedi described it as Physeter catodon in his 1738 work Genera piscium , from

4557-484: The forward parts of the ventral visual fields for binocular vision . For some time researchers have been aware that pods of sperm whales may sleep for short periods, assuming a vertical position with their heads just below or at the surface, or head down. A 2008 study published in Current Biology recorded evidence that whales may sleep with both sides of the brain. It appears that some whales may fall into

4650-659: The genus Physeter published by Linnaeus concurrently with P. catodon . This proposition was based on the grounds that the names were synonyms published simultaneously, and, therefore, the ICZN Principle of the First Reviser should apply. In this instance, it led to the choice of P. macrocephalus over P. catodon , a view re-stated in Holthuis, 1987. This has been adopted by most subsequent authors, although Schevill (1986 and 1987 ) argued that macrocephalus

4743-450: The growth of their bodies. Nourishment that would otherwise make the body grow is diverted to the production of semen. Aristotle is saying that at this stage the body is still growing; it is best for sexual activity to begin when its growth is 'no longer abundant', for when the body is more or less at full height, the transformation of nourishment into semen does not drain the body of needed material." Additionally, "Aristotle tells us that

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4836-435: The importance of semen retention and there are specific asanas and Bandhas for it like Mula Bandana and Aswini Mudra. In Ancient Greece , Aristotle remarked on the importance of semen: "For Aristotle, semen is the residue derived from nourishment, that is of blood, that has been highly concocted to the optimum temperature and substance. This can only be emitted by the male as only the male, by nature of his very being, has

4929-405: The junk redistributes physical stress across the skull and may have evolved to protect the head during ramming. Running through the head are two air passages. The left passage runs alongside the spermaceti organ and goes directly to the blowhole, whilst the right passage runs underneath the spermaceti organ and passes air through a pair of phonic lips and into the distal sac at the very front of

5022-477: The knobs trap a film of air that is consistent whatever the orientation or depth of the whale, making it an excellent sound mirror . The spermaceti organs may also help adjust the whale's buoyancy . It is hypothesized that before the whale dives, cold water enters the organ, and it is likely that the blood vessels constrict, reducing blood flow, and, hence, temperature. The wax therefore solidifies and reduces in volume. The increase in specific density generates

5115-1241: The largest international association of marine mammal scientists in the world, officially uses Physeter macrocephalus when publishing their definitive list of marine mammal species . The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale and is among the most sexually dimorphic of all cetaceans . Both sexes are about the same size at birth, but mature males are typically 30% to 50% longer and three times as massive as females. Newborn sperm whales are usually between 3.7 and 4.3 meters (12 and 14 ft) long. Female sperm whales are sexually mature at 8 to 9 meters (26 to 30 ft) in length, whilst males are sexually mature at 11 to 12 meters (36 to 39 ft). Female sperm whales are physically mature at about 10.6 to 11 meters (35 to 36 ft) in length and generally do not achieve lengths greater than 12 metres (39 ft). The largest female sperm whale measured up to 12.3 meters (40 ft) long, and an individual of such size would have weighed about 17 tonnes (19 short tons). Male sperm whales are physically mature at about 15 to 16 meters (49 to 52 ft) in length, and larger males can generally achieve 18 to 19 meters (59 to 62 ft). An 18 meters (59 ft) long male sperm whale

5208-662: The largest recorded. However, sizes like these are rare, with 95% of recorded sperm whales below 15.85 metres (52.0 ft). In 1853, one sperm whale was reported at 62 feet (19 m) in length, with a head measuring 20 feet (6.1 m). Large lower jawbones are held in the British Natural History Museum and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History , measuring 5 metres (16 ft) and 4.7 metres (15 ft), respectively. The average size of sperm whales has decreased over

5301-455: The left side of the skull. The sperm whale's lower jaw is very narrow and underslung. The sperm whale has 18 to 26 teeth on each side of its lower jaw which fit into sockets in the upper jaw. The teeth are cone-shaped and weigh up to 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) each. The teeth are functional, but do not appear to be necessary for capturing or eating squid, as well-fed animals have been found without teeth or even with deformed jaws. One hypothesis

5394-443: The longest intestinal system in the world, exceeding 300 m in larger specimens. The sperm whale has a four-chambered stomach that is similar to ruminants . The first secretes no gastric juices and has very thick muscular walls to crush the food (since whales cannot chew) and resist the claw and sucker attacks of swallowed squid. The second chamber is larger and is where digestion takes place. Undigested squid beaks accumulate in

5487-489: The longest reported successful storage with this method is 21 years. Semen can transmit many sexually transmitted infections and pathogens , including viruses like HIV and Ebola . Swallowing semen carries no additional risk other than those inherent in fellatio . This includes transmission risk for sexually transmitted infections such as human papillomavirus or herpes , especially for people with bleeding gums, gingivitis or open sores. Viruses in semen survive for

5580-597: The lumen of the urethra to lubricate it. Sertoli cells , which nurture and support developing spermatocytes , secrete a fluid into seminiferous tubules that helps transport sperm to the genital ducts. The ductuli efferentes possess cuboidal cells with microvilli and lysosomal granules that modify the ductal fluid by reabsorbing some fluid. Once the semen enters the ductus epididymis the principal cells, which contain pinocytotic vessels indicating fluid reabsorption, secrete glycerophosphocholine which most likely inhibits premature capacitation . The accessory genital ducts,

5673-425: The mating season. The females cooperate to protect and nurse their young. Females give birth every four to twenty years, and care for the calves for more than a decade. A mature, healthy sperm whale has no 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, with the head representing up to one-third of

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5766-430: The melon. At the posterior end of this spermaceti complex is the frontal sac, which covers the concave surface of the cranium. The posterior wall of the frontal sac is covered with fluid-filled knobs, which are about 4–13 mm in diameter and separated by narrow grooves. The anterior wall is smooth. The knobbly surface reflects sound waves that come through the spermaceti organ from the phonic lips. The grooves between

5859-405: The names used by Linnaeus. Both names are still used, although most recent authors now accept macrocephalus as the valid name, limiting catodon 's status to a lesser synonym. Until 1974, the species was generally known as P. catodon . In that year, however, Dutch zoologists Antonius M. Husson and Lipke Holthuis proposed that the correct name should be P. macrocephalus , the second name in

5952-407: The nose. The distal sac is connected to the blowhole and the terminus of the left passage. When the whale is submerged, it can close the blowhole, and air that passes through the phonic lips can circulate back to the lungs. The sperm whale, unlike other odontocetes, has only one pair of phonic lips, whereas all other toothed whales have two, and it is located at the front of the nose instead of behind

6045-402: The oral intake of semen include: A huge variety of euphemisms and dysphemisms have been invented to describe semen. For a list of terms, see sexual slang . Slang terms for semen include cum , jizz , spunk (primarily British English ), spooge and/or splooge , load , nut , seed , and love juice . The term cum can also refer to an orgasm (when used as a verb rather than as

6138-550: The origin is uncertain, but it suggests that it comes from the Vulgar Latin cappula 'sword hilts'. The word cachalot came to English via French from Spanish or Portuguese cachalote , perhaps from Galician /Portuguese cachola 'big head'. The term is retained in the Russian word for the animal, kashalot ( кашалот ), as well as in many other languages. The scientific genus name Physeter comes from

6231-503: The region round the eyes was the region of the head most fruitful of seed ("most seedy" σπερματικώτατος), pointing to generally recognised effects upon the eyes of sexual indulgence and to practices which imply that seed comes from liquid in the region of the eyes." This may be explained by the belief of the Pythagoreans that "semen is a drop of the brain [τὸ δε σπέρμα εἶναι σταγόνα ἐγκέφαλου]." Greek Stoic philosophy conceived of

6324-611: The report of a beached specimen in Orkney in 1693 and two beached in the Netherlands in 1598 and 1601. The 1598 specimen was near Berkhey. The sperm whale is one of the species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae . He recognised four species in the genus Physeter . Experts soon realised that just one such species exists, although there has been debate about whether this should be named P. catodon or P. macrocephalus , two of

6417-443: The requisite heat to concoct blood into semen." According to Aristotle, there is a direct connection between food and semen: "Sperms are the excretion of our food, or to put it more clearly, as the most perfect component of our food." The connection between food and physical growth, on the one hand, and semen, on the other, allows Aristotle to warn against "engag[ing] in sexual activity at too early an age ... [since] this will affect

6510-413: The second chamber – as many as 18,000 have been found in some dissected specimens. Most squid beaks are vomited by the whale, but some occasionally make it to the hindgut. Such beaks precipitate the formation of ambergris . In 1959, the heart of a 22 metric-ton (24 short-ton) male taken by whalers was measured to be 116 kilograms (256 lb), about 0.5% of its total mass. The circulatory system has

6603-465: The sexual organs during sexual excitement. The ensuing orgasm and ejaculation will then finally expel the energy from the system completely. The Chinese proverb 一滴精，十滴血 (pinyin: yì dī jīng, shí dī xuè, literally: a drop of semen is equal to ten drops of blood) illustrates this point. The scientific term for semen in Chinese is 精液 (pinyin: jīng yè, literally: fluid of essence/jing) and the term for sperm

6696-477: The ships. The sperm whale's eye does not differ greatly from those of other toothed whales except in size. It is the largest among the toothed whales, weighing about 170 g. It is overall ellipsoid in shape, compressed along the visual axis, measuring about 7×7×3 cm. The cornea is elliptical and the lens is spherical. The sclera is very hard and thick, roughly 1 cm anteriorly and 3 cm posteriorly. There are no ciliary muscles . The choroid

6789-494: The sound energy is then reflected off the frontal sac at the cranium and into the melon, whose lens-like structure focuses it. Some of the sound will reflect back into the spermaceti organ and back towards the front of the whale's nose, where it will be reflected through the spermaceti organ a third time. This back and forth reflection which happens on the scale of a few milliseconds creates a multi-pulse click structure. This multi-pulse click structure allows researchers to measure

6882-423: The sperm whale has a poor sense of taste and smell. By contrast, the auditory system is enlarged. The pyramidal tract is poorly developed, reflecting the reduction of its limbs. The sperm whale respiratory system has adapted to cope with drastic pressure changes when diving. The flexible ribcage allows lung collapse, reducing nitrogen intake, and metabolism can decrease to conserve oxygen . Between dives,

6975-417: The sperm whale has a vestigial pelvis that is not connected to the spine. Like that of other toothed whales , the skull of the sperm whale is asymmetrical so as to aid echolocation . Sound waves that strike the whale from different directions will not be channeled in the same way. Within the basin of the cranium, the openings of the bony narial tubes (from which the nasal passages spring) are skewed towards

7068-411: The sperm whale surfaces to breathe for about eight minutes before diving again. Odontoceti (toothed whales) breathe air at the surface through a single, S-shaped blowhole, which is extremely skewed to the left. Sperm whales spout (breathe) 3–5 times per minute at rest, increasing to 6–7 times per minute after a dive. The blow is a noisy, single stream that rises up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) or more above

7161-422: The sperm whale the loudest animal in the world. When echolocating , the sperm whale emits a directionally focused beam of broadband clicks. Clicks are generated by forcing air through a pair of phonic lips (also known as "monkey lips" or " museau de singe ") at the front end of the nose, just below the blowhole. The sound then travels backwards along the length of the nose through the spermaceti organ. Most of

7254-440: The spermatozoa fertilize the ova directly, outside of the female's sexual organs. Female fish , for example, spawn ova into their aquatic environment, where they are fertilized by the semen of the male fish. Internal fertilization occurs inside the female's sexual organs after a male inseminates a female through copulation . In most vertebrates , including amphibians , reptiles , birds and monotreme mammals, copulation

7347-546: The spine by flexible cartilage, which allows the ribcage to collapse rather than snap under high pressure. While sperm whales are well adapted to diving, repeated dives to great depths have long-term effects. Bones show the same avascular necrosis that signals decompression sickness in humans. Older skeletons showed the most extensive damage, whereas calves showed no damage. This damage may indicate that sperm whales are susceptible to decompression sickness, and sudden surfacing could be lethal to them. Like that of all cetaceans,

7440-410: The spine of the sperm whale has reduced zygapophysial joints , of which the remnants are modified and are positioned higher on the vertebral dorsal spinous process, hugging it laterally, to prevent extensive lateral bending and facilitate more dorso-ventral bending. These evolutionary modifications make the spine more flexible but weaker than the spines of terrestrial vertebrates. Like many cetaceans,

7533-411: The surface and points forward and left at a 45° angle. On average, females and juveniles blow every 12.5 seconds before dives, while large males blow every 17.5 seconds before dives. A sperm whale killed 160 km (100 mi) south of Durban, South Africa, after a 1-hour, 50-minute dive was found with two dogfish ( Scymnodon sp.), usually found at the sea floor , in its belly. The sperm whale has

7626-630: The symptoms disappear with use of a condom . Desensitization treatments are often very successful. Among numerous species in the animal kingdom, females may benefit from absorbing nutrients and proteins from seminal fluid for food, antiviral and antibacterial properties, and enhanced fertilisation. In humans, seminal fluid provides anti-viral activity towards herpes simplex virus and can transfer anti-microbial peptides cathelicidin and lactoferrin . In birds and mammals, mutalistic bacteria such as Lactobacillus have been detected in fluid transferral. Qigong and Chinese medicine place huge emphasis on

7719-563: The tiny Steinavær islands in the Andfjorden, there is a large coral reef . This Nordland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a location in Troms is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a fjord in Norway is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sperm whales The sperm whale or cachalot ( Physeter macrocephalus )

7812-505: The vessels of the brain. Their circulatory system has adapted to dive at great depths, as much as 2,250 metres (7,382 ft) for up to 120 minutes. More typical dives are around 400 metres (1,310 ft) and 35 minutes in duration. Myoglobin , which stores oxygen in muscle tissue, is much more abundant than in terrestrial animals. The blood has a high density of red blood cells , which contain oxygen-carrying haemoglobin . The oxygenated blood can be directed towards only

7905-450: The water as it begins a feeding dive. It has a series of ridges on the back's caudal third instead of a dorsal fin . The largest ridge was called the 'hump' by whalers, and can be mistaken for a dorsal fin because of its shape and size. In contrast to the smooth skin of most large whales, its back skin is usually wrinkly and has been likened to a prune by whale-watching enthusiasts. Albinos have been reported. The ribs are bound to

7998-418: The whale's spermaceti organ using only the sound of its clicks. Because the interval between pulses of a sperm whale's click is related to the length of the sound producing organ, an individual whale's click is unique to that individual. However, if the whale matures and the size of the spermaceti organ increases, the tone of the whale's click will also change. The lower jaw is the primary reception path for

8091-490: The whales' semen , is the semi-liquid, waxy substance found within the whale's head. ( See " Spermaceti organ and melon " below. ) The sperm whale is also known as the "cachalot", which is thought to derive from the archaic French for 'tooth' or 'big teeth', as preserved for example in the word caishau in the Gascon dialect (a word of either Romance or Basque origin). The etymological dictionary of Corominas says

8184-407: The years, probably due to pressure from whaling. Another view holds that exploitation by overwhaling had virtually no effect on the size of the bull sperm whales, and their size may have actually increased in current times on the basis of density dependent effects. Old males taken at Solander Islands were recorded to be extremely large and unusually rich in blubbers. The sperm whale's unique body

8277-510: Was "a divine substance, endowed on humanity by Enki ", the god of water. The semen of a god was believed to have magical generative powers. In Sumerian mythology , when Enki's seed was planted in the ground, it caused the spontaneous growth of eight previously nonexistent plants. Enki was believed to have created the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by masturbating and ejaculating into their empty riverbeds . The Sumerians believed that rain

8370-497: Was applied to sperm whales in the Southern Hemisphere. The sperm whale belongs to the order Cetartiodactyla , the order containing all cetaceans and even-toed ungulates . It is a member of the unranked clade Cetacea , with all the whales, dolphins, and porpoises, and further classified into Odontoceti , containing all the toothed whales and dolphins. It is the sole extant species of its genus, Physeter , in

8463-470: Was published with an inaccurate description and that therefore only the species catodon was valid, rendering the principle of "First Reviser" inapplicable. The most recent version of ITIS has altered its usage from P. catodon to P. macrocephalus , following L. B. Holthuis and more recent (2008) discussions with relevant experts. Furthermore, The Taxonomy Committee of the Society for Marine Mammalogy ,

8556-514: Was supposedly the basis for the Borborite Eucharist ritual, in which they allegedly engaged in orgies and drank semen and menstrual blood as the "body and blood of Christ" respectively. Bart D. Ehrman , a scholar of early Christianity, casts doubt on the accuracy of Epiphanius's summary, commenting that "the details of Epiphanius's description sound very much like what you can find in the ancient rumor mill about secret societies in

8649-406: Was the semen of the sky-god An , which fell from the heavens to inseminate his consort, the earth-goddess Ki , causing her to give birth to all the plants of the earth. The orchid 's twin bulbs were thought to resemble the testicles , which is the etymology of the disease orchiditis . There was an ancient Roman belief that the flower sprang from the spilled semen of copulating satyrs . In

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