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Biologists Track Sperm Whale Sighted Off St. Pete Beach

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TBO.com

Published: December 31, 2007

Marine biologists are tracking a rare visitor off St. Pete Beach.

A charter fisherman spotted a 25-foot-long sperm whale less than one-half mile offshore Sunday.

Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Mote Marine Laboratory and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as a University of Florida veterinarian, are monitoring the whale's movements and condition.

This may be a young whale, said Laura Engleby, a marine biologist with the NOAA Fisheries Service. Male adult sperm whales can be 60 feet long, and female adults can be 40 feet long.

Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales in the world and have been known to live seven decades.

According to the NOAA Fisheries Web site: "The sperm whale was listed as endangered throughout its range on June 2, 1970 under the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969 (35 FR 8495) and is also protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972."

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