by: Stephanie Ploen
Kogia comes from the English word codger, which means a miserly old man. The word simus means flat snouted.
This animal is dark gray to blue-gray, with a prominent, falcate dorsal fin. The flippers are located far forward on the body. The snout is slightly pointed and overlaps the tiny underslung jaw and a "false gill" marking behind the eye. Thus it may resemble a shark when stranded. At sea it is often seen in small groups of up to six animals, floating motionless at the surface with only a part of the head and the back and dorsal fin exposed. Up to six teeth are found in the upper jaw.
Dwarf sperm whales reach at least 3 m in length.
Along the entire coast of South Africa and Namibia, over the edge of the continental shelf.
Very little is known about the species in general. Most information about its natural history comes from strandings in Florida and South Africa. In recent years, a number of observations have been made in the wild, mainly in the Gulf of California, off the Bahamas and in the Phillipines. The species feeds mainly on squid and a few crustaceans and fish. Scallops have been found in its stomach. When in panic or under stress, reddish brown faeces are discharged, which may serve as a defense (camouflage) mechanism.
Nothing is known about the possible impacts in African coastal waters. Although some are taken in gillnets in the Indian Ocean.
Insufficiently known.
Hutterer R. Dwarf sperm whale Kogia simus in the Canary Islands. Lutra 37 (2). 1994. 89-92.
Marine Mammal Stranding Center
Ross, G.J.B. 1979. Records of pygmy and dwarf sperm whales, genus Kogia, from Southern Africa, with biological notes and some comparisons. Animals of the Cape Provincial Museums (natural history), Volume 11, Part 14.
Jefferson, T.A. Leatherwood, S. and M.A. Webber. 1994. FAO Species Identification Guide, Marine Mammals of the World. FAO of the United Nations, Rome.
Leatherwood, S. and R.R. Reeves. 1987. The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. Sierra Club Books, San Fransisco.
URL for this page: http://csiwhalesalive.org/csidwarfsperm.html