Newsademic British English edition 260

orth
 
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ea
 
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Over 28 sperm whales washed up 
on North Sea coasts between 9th 
January and 4th February. The ani­
mals were found on the shores o f the 
UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and 
France. The whales died soon after 
washing up on beaches and mudflats.

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4th February 2016 
Newsademic.com
™
 - British English edition 
page 
10
There are two types o f large 
whales: baleen and toothed whales. 
Baleen whales have comb-like fil­
ters, or baleen plates, along their 
upper jaws. Even though the whales 
are huge, they eat tiny shrimp-like 
sea creatures called krill. Baleen 
whales take in big mouthfuls of 
water. This is pushed out through 
their baleen plates. The krill in the 
water are too big to pass through the 
filters. They remain in the w hale’s 
mouth and are swallowed. The blue 
whale is the w orld’s biggest animal. 
It is a baleen whale.
Sperm whale
The sperm whale is the largest 
toothed whale. It has a row o f large, 
pointed teeth around the lower jaw. 
W hen the whale closes its mouth, its 
teeth fit into holes, or empty sock­
ets, in the upper jaw. Sperm whales 
mainly eat squid. They also feed on 
some types o f fish and octopuses. A 
sperm whale eats at least 400 squid 
every day.
Sperm whales are found in most 
of the w orld’s oceans. Adult males 
can be 20.5 metres (67 feet) long. 
The head makes up about one- 
third o f the w hale’s body. O f all the 
w orld’s animals, the sperm whale 
has the biggest brain. It weighs about 
7.8 kilograms (17 pounds). This 
is more than five times the weight 
o f an adult human brain. Sperm 
whales usually live for more than 70 
years. Females stay in groups called 
pods. They look after their off­
spring, or calves, for over ten years.
Fully-grown males are solitary. 
They live on their own.
The w hale’s name comes from a 
liquid, white waxy substance in the 
upper part of its head. It’s called 
spermaceti. Scientists are not sure 
what it’s for. Some believe that 
the substance controls buoyancy, 
or how the whale floats. Oth­
ers think it has something to do 
with echolocation. This is a type 
o f sonar. The whales make noises. 
They then listen for the echoes the 
sounds make. The animals then use 
the echoes to work out an image of 
their surroundings.
Years ago spermaceti was very 
valuable. It was used to make can­
dles. Spermaceti oil was burnt in 
lamps. In the 1700s and early 1800s 
hundreds of whaling ships set sail 
every year. Many thousands o f sperm 
whales were hunted and killed for 
their spermaceti. In the 1850s kero­
sene (also known as paraffin) was 
invented. At first, it was made from 
either coal or oil. Kerosene replaced 
spermaceti wax and oil.
Sperm whales prefer deep waters. 
They can dive to depths o f 1,000 
metres (3,280 feet). The whales 
must come to the surface to breathe. 
On deep dives, sperm whales hold 
their breath for 90 minutes. Many 
sperm whales live in the North At­
lantic Ocean. Normally, they do not
enter the North Sea. This is because 
it is too shallow.
Scientists say that the dead 
whales found on the North Sea 
coasts belonged to the same pod. 
They may have been chasing squid. 
After swimming into the North 
Sea, the whales probably became 
confused. They got stuck in shal­
low waters. Winds and waves then 
washed them onto the shore. □
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