Moby Dick ‘ship sinking’ sperm whales caught headbutting on camera

New research from the University of St Andrews reports sperm whales headbutting 
one another. The behaviour was captured on film and described scientifically for the
first time, confirming accounts by 19 th century mariners of sperm whales using their
heads to deliberately push and strike objects, occasionally even sinking ships,
thereby inspiring Herman Melville’s classic tale Moby Dick.

Using drone technology, researchers were able to film sperm whales headbutting 
each other, as well as the surrounding behavioural and social context. The images
were filmed during fieldwork in the Azores and Balearic islands between 2020 and
2022.

The paper, published in Marine Mammal Science also shows how sub-adult
whales engaged in this headbutting activity, rather than between large males as was
previously hypothesised. This new discovery raises intriguing questions about the
function and consequences of such behaviour on group cohesion and social
dynamics.

Lead author Dr Alec Burlem, who carried out the research whilst at the University of
St Andrews in collaboration with researchers at the university of the Azores and
Asociación Tursiops (an NGO based in the Balearic islands), said: “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.”

More observations will be needed to understand the function of this behaviour but
the widespread use of drones in the field will offer increased opportunities for
observations of this as well as other, as yet unseen, near-surface behaviours.
There is speculation as to whether sperm whale headbutting may have originated
from physical contests between sperm whales. Some hypothesised that this
behaviour may be a widespread part of male-male competition but occurs under the
surface and therefore be difficult to observe from boats. Others argued that
habitually using the head as a weapon was unlikely to have been favoured by
evolution, as it would endanger structures in the head which are vital for producing
sounds used for echolocation and social communication.

The use of the head by sperm whales to push and strike objects has been reported
anecdotally since the open-boat whaling of the 19th century. The most famous
example is that of Essex, a 27m sail-powered whaleship which was reported to have
been sunk by two head-on strikes from a large bull sperm whale off the Galapagos in
1820 and which inspired Herman Melville’s novel ‘Moby Dick’.

Owen Chase, First mate upon the Essex described the force of the whale’s headbutt
in a contemporaneous report quote

“I turned around and saw him about one hundred rods [approx. 500 m] 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.”

Other similar accounts of whaling ships being sunk by sperm whales include the
sinkings of Ann Alexander and Kathleen in the 19 th century.

Dr Burslem, who is now based at the University of Hawaii, added: “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. 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”.

ENDS