Though fictional, the vengeful Captain Ahab from Herman Meville’s Moby Dick may have had some sound science on his side. Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) really do use their massive heads to deliberately push and strike objects. A team of scientists using a drone filmed sperm whales headbutting each other during fieldwork in the Azores and Balearic islands in the eastern Atlantic Ocean between 2020 and 2022. The findings are detailed in a study published today in the journal Marine Mammal Science and is the first-known footage ever captured of this behavior.
“It was really exciting to observe this behaviour, which we knew had been hypothesised for such a long time, but not yet documented and described systematically,” Dr. Alec Burslem, a study co-author and biologist at the University of St Andrews in Scotland who witnessed this behavior first-hand, said in a statement.
Since the days of open-boat whaling in the 19th century, mariners have anecdotally reported that the roughly 11,000 pound (50 ton) whales use their heads to push and strike objects—potentially sinking ships. The most famous example is that of Essex, an 88-foot sail-powered whaleship whose story inspired Melville to write his most famous book. In 1820, the vessel was reportedly sunk by two head-on strikes from a large bull sperm whale off the Galapagos. First Mate Owen Chase described the force of the whale’s headbutt:
“I turned around and saw him about one hundred rods [roughly 1,640 feet] directly ahead of us, coming down with twice his ordinary speed of around 24 knots, and it appeared with tenfold fury and vengeance in his aspect. The surf flew in all directions about him with the continual violent thrashing of his tail. His head about half out of the water, and in that way he came upon us, and again struck the ship.”
Similar accounts of whaling ships being sunk by sperm whales include the sinkings of Ann Alexander in the South Pacific in 1851 and Kathleen off the coast of Brazil in 1902.
But why the headbutting? It may be a physical contest between sperm whales. Some scientists hypothesize that it’s a common part of male-male competition, but typically occurs under the surface and is difficult to observe from above. Other scientists argue that constantly using the head as a weapon would not have been favored by evolution, as it could put structures in the head which are vital for producing sounds used for echolocation and social communication in jeopardy.
While more observations are needed to better understand the function of this behavior, the use of drones in field research will offer more changes to getting sightings like this—and maybe some behaviors humans have never seen.
“This unique overhead perspective for observing and documenting near-surface behaviour is just one of the ways drone technology is transforming the study of wildlife biology,” added Burslem, who is now based at the University of Hawaii. “It’s exciting to think about what as-yet unseen behaviours we may soon uncover, as well how more headbutting observations may help us to shed light on the functions the behaviour may serve. If there are people out there with similar footage, we would be very keen to hear from them.”
The project was a collaboration between the University of St Andrews, the University of the Azores, and Asociación Tursiops (an NGO based in the Balearic islands).
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