Sperm whale diving, Kaikoura Coast, South Island, New Zealand


These Sperm Whales are 20+ years residents just off the coast of New Zealand and dive 24/7 to depths of well over 1000 meters to hunt for giant squid. After surfacing they breath for 5-6 minutes before they dive again. These wales use echo location during the dive and the hunt. They are silent when swimming back to the surface.


Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Kaikoura, New Zealand
Photo credit: © Eric Middelkoop / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: animal, aquatic, bay, behavior, big, cetacean, coast, coastal, creature, dive, diving, ecotourism, endangered, enormous, environment, fin, fluke, fouraging, giant, huge, hunter, hunting, island, kaikoura, large, life, location, macrocephalus, mammal, marine, natural, ocean, oceania, pacific, physeter, predator, sea, south, sperm, surface, swimming, tail, toothed, tourism, travel, whale, wild, zealand