Blue Whale by Jeremy Webber

Description and Ecology: The blue whale, also known as Balaenoptera musculus, is a species of baleen whale. It is the largest animal ever known to have lived on earth. Adult blue whales have been recorded up to 33 meters long and weighing up to 150,000 Kg. An interesting fact is that the female whales are larger than the males! Blue whales have a long slender body and their dorsal fin sits farther back than most other whales.

When a blue whale feeds, its throat and chest greatly expand to allow a massive intake of seawater.  They eat zooplankton by taking in large amounts of water and filtering out the plankton through baleen. Baleen acts as a barrier that the plankton cannot pass as the whale expells water from its mouth.

Blue whales have a gestation period that lasts between 10 and 12 months. Once the calves are born, they are nursed for 6-7 months. The young are typically weaned during their migration north for the summer season. Once weaned, the whale will continue migrating on its own. Blue whales have a single offspring every 2-3 years. The age of sexual maturation is not known exactly, but it has been narrowed to between 5 and 15 years of age.

Geographic and Population Changes: Blue whales inhabit most of the world’s oceans but are most commonly found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. During the summer they will be found in the northern part of the oceans to feed and during the winter they will be found in the southern parts for breeding. It is believed that they breed in the south because the young only have a thin layer of blubber to retain heat.

There are no valid population totals, but the closest estimates available indicate that there were 15,000 in the North Atlantic and 6,000 in the North Pacific before whaling became popular. In the North Atlantic alone, there have been an estimated 11,000 captures from whaling since the 19^th century. Currently it is believed that there are less than 5,000 worldwide.

                                                           Blue Whale Sighting

Listing: Blue whales were listed as an endangered species on June 2^nd, 1970. The main cause for their listing was the excessive and unsustainable hunting of blue whales. Whaling for blue whales has been made illegal, but the problem isn’t solved. Pirate whalers that do not follow fishing regulations continue to hunt for blue whales. Blue whales can also be struck by a ship or become trapped in fishing gear. We know where these incidents most commonly occur, but research on how to prevent them is ongoing. (More information can be found here) 

Recovery Plan: The recovery plan for blue whales was put into effect on July 28^th, 1998. The plan’s long term goal is to promote the recovery of blue whales until it is considered appropriate to list them as threatened, and to eventually be removed from the list. The purpose of this recovery plan is to identify necessary actions to minimize or eliminate the effects of human activities that set back the recovery of blue whales. The immediate objective is to identify what limits the population and to find out what is necessary to increase the population. The highest priority currently is to “support the international ban on commerical hunting and encourage international efforts to eradicate illegal whaling”(Reeves et al). Other notable points to this plan are to eliminate human caused mortality and to maximize scientific info gathered from stranded or entangled blue whales.

How Can YOU Help? There is nothing that an individual can do to help a blue whale, but by donating here you can support the Word Wildlife Fund's efforts.

Works Cited:

Reeves, Randal, Phillip Clapham, Robert Brownell, Gregory Silber. “Recovery Plan for the Blue Whale.” Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospherc Administration. July 1998

World Wildlife Fund. “Blue Whale.” World Wildlife website: http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/blue-whale (Accessed December 4, 2015)

 

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle by: Nicole Tedjasaputra

Description and ecology: The Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, also known as Lepidochelys kempii, was named after Richard Kemp who discovered and studied the reptile. Being the smallest marine turtle in the entire world,, their eggs can only reach up to 45 mm in diameter and 40 grams in weight. Once they hatch they range from 42-48 mm and weigh between 15 to 20 grams; their small size makes them very vulnerable. As an adult, each turtle can weigh between 70 to 100 pounds and are about 60-65 centimeters.
If you keep in mind that an average sea turtle is about 400 pounds and 75 centimeters, then Kemp's are significantly smaller.An interesting fact about the turtle is their shell changes colors throughout their lifetime.The turtle shells are composed of two parts: the carapace and plastron. The carapace is the upper portion of the shell and the plastron is the bottom half, both which are made of a fusion of bones. As a hatchling, the carapace and plastron are a grey-blackish color, but as they mature the plastron becomes a yellowish-white tone. Once the Kemp's reach adulthood, the top of their shell is a lighter grey-olive and their plastron yellowish white. Kemp's ridleys are usually submerged under water their entire life, but come up to the surface to get oxygen. They are carnivorous and have really strong jaws that crush their food. They feed in sandy, muddy waters close to the bottom of the ocean or in shallow waters. Their diet consists of crabs, clams, mussels, shrimp, fish, sea urchins, squid, and jellyfish.

Geographic and population changes: Kemp's ridley sea turtles have a very restricted geographic range. They particularly inhabit beaches on the western Gulf of Mexico, specifically Tamaulipas, Mexico.Historically, other coastal areas of the Gulf, the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, and parts of the United States have been home to them as well. These areas are less frequent for turtles to nest and their range decline forces them into small area availability. Kemp's ridley sea turtles experienced a humongous decline between the late 1940's and the mid-1980's. In 1947, evidence of about 42,000 Kemp's ridleys nesting in a single day came out in a video. However, about 33,000 of them were collected for local villages, around 80% of the nests. As this continued, many turtles failed to survive. The decline of hatchlings and eggs has caused major population change. Sadly, in 1985 the lowest number of nests was recorded at 702. Since then extreme conservation methods were implemented and their population started to recover in the 1990's reaching a 15% increase through 2009. Today, Kemp's ridleys have experienced early stages of recovery.

Listing date and type of listing:

On December 2, 1970, the Kemp's ridley was listed as endangered with the Fish and Wildlife Service.Since then, they have been federally protected under the Endangered Species Act. However, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the Kemp's ridley as critically endangered. Another organization that helps the turtles is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which prohibits international trade of  all sea turtles and their parts.

Cause of listing and main threats to its continued existence: There are several threats which cause the decline of Kemp's ridley sea turtles- primarily, human activity and disruption. These human threats include, the exploitation of eggs, killing of adults for meat, loss of habitat, pollution, climate change, and by-catch fishing from fishing nets. Kemp's ridleys nest on beaches and are shallow or poorly disguised, making them easy to spot. Not only do humans collect the eggs, but animals, such as coyotes and birds, prey on the hatchlings when they are making their way back to the ocean. Another large threat are the local people who capture the turtles for their meat and trade it as a delicacy. Sea turtles rely on beaches to nest, but coastal development and vehicular traffic have destroyed nesting sites. Aside from destroyed nesting sites, some of their feeding grounds in coral reefs and seaweed beds have been disturbed too. Trash-filled oceans pose a threat to the turtles, but light pollution from civilization has affected them as well; this keeps them from nesting. If you haven't noticed, these threats have a huge commonality- issues with nesting. Climate change is another concern involving the survival of Kemp's ridley sea turtles because they are highly influenced by their environment. So much so that water temperatures can affect the sex of the offspring, causing abnormal rations of fewer males. Now more than ever, turtles are dying because of incidental capture by fisheries. They get caught in the net and can not resurface to get air, so they die from drowning. These are the main threats to Kemp's ridley.

Description of recovery plan: Kemp's ridley sea turtles are on the brink of return because of successful plans in conservation. Several important factors of their recovery are based on informing humans and the public on how their actions impact the turtles. In their pursuit of recovery, protecting nesting sites has been huge. Conservationists track the migration patterns of the turtles in order to be able to better understand their ecology. Efforts to inform the public of this endangered species includes improving and supporting trade controls to restrict slaughtering their meat. As stated before, fisheries can really harm the turtles when harvesting other marine life by being bycatch to them. The way that we improve this is by reducing it and promoting smart fishing.

Personal action:  To continue the success of Kemp's ridley sea turtles, it is important to support organizations that promote conservation, such as Sea World or the World Wildlife Fund- WWF. On the WWF's official website, they provide donation offers for building awareness. A Kemp's ridley sea turtle's survival is heavily based on human interaction and activity; the best way to reduce that is by informing them. Making our world knowledgeable of these concerns will ultimately increase the species. Whether it's donating or spreading the word, supporting Kemp's ridley sea turtles will help recover them.


Sources and cool other links:
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/kemps-ridley-sea-turtle/

http://www.conserveturtles.org/seaturtleinformation.php?page=kemps-ridley

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/kempsridley_revision2_with%20signature.pdfhttp://www.fws.gov/northflorida/seaturtles/turtle%20factsheets/kemps-ridley-sea-turtle.htm

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/marine_turtles/kemps_ridley_turtle/

http://www.fws.gov/northflorida/seaturtles/turtle%20factsheets/kemps-ridley-sea-turtle.htm

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/kempsridley.htm

https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Amphibians-Reptiles-and-Fish/Sea-Turtles/Kemps-Ridley-Turtle.aspx

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sea-turtle

Endangered Mexican Spotted Owl

By: Rosio Villalpando

http://hawksaloft.org/2012/06/21/gila-mexican-spotted-owl-study/

Description and Ecology

The Mexican Spotted owl is one of the three subspecies of spotted owls. It belongs within the genus Strix where it derives its binomial name of Strix occidentalis lucida. The other two subspecies are the California and Northern spotted owls, but the Mexican spotted owl has distinct appearance characteristics that makes it unique. It is the smallest subspecies of spotted owl but the largest owl in North America. In addition to being that smallest spotted owl its other feature is its striking round brown eyes unlike the light colors of any other type of owl. The Mexican spotted owl’s fluffy mass of feathers makes it identical to other owls. Although they are a chestnut brown color with white and brown spots in the abdomen and horizontal stripes on the tail. The owl is an average of 18 inches tall with a wingspan of 45 inches and typically weighs less than one pound. Most surprising quality is that all the females are larger than the males.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwZGIRB0low 

The shy owl wonders in the North America old-growth forest of white pine, Douglas fir, ponderosa pine as well as rocky canyons. The forested mountains creates a dense canopy for the perfect nesting spot. In the nest the female lays the average of two eggs in the spring and takes care of its offspring while the male is responsible for providing food. They prey on a variety of small mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects but their main diet consists of mice, voles, bats, and woodrats.

Geographic and Population Changes

http://www.ourendangeredworld.com/species/birds-bats/mexican-spotted-owl/

The Mexican spotted owl has the largest geographic distribution of the rest spotted owls ranging from the southern Rocky Mountains in Colorado, southern Utah, Arizona, western portions of Texas, and New Mexico. North America is not only the home of the Mexican spotted owl but also the central mountains of northern and central Mexico. Fewer owls exists in Mexico and only about a little over 2,000 owl live in North America. Slowly the population of owls is reducing and the habitats are becoming patchier.

Listing

In 1993 the Mexican spotted owl was listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened under Section 3 of the Endangered Species Act. The original plan was not completed until 1995 and is was revised and finalized in 2012. Mexican spotted owl was listed for various reasons that was affected their habitat.

 Cause of Listing and Main Threats

The decline of spotted owl has been caused by various factors. However, the main contributor to the decrease in population of this shy kind owl has been habitat destruction. 

a.    Destruction of Habitat

1.    Timber-harvest and Fires: The practices of these two actions have been the primarily factor that threatens the life of an owl. These actions have been seen in the southwestern U.S. where large fires burn down the area and there is still a higher likelihood that wildfires will increase in the future. Some areas of the forest have also been destroyed through the process of logging, although since the 1990s the level of commercial harvest has declined by more than 95%.

2.    Grazing: Livestock grazing in agriculture can have long and short-term conditions effects on Mexican spotted owls. An example of one effect is devastating the forest which reduces herbaceous ground cover.

3.    Energy Development: Electrocutions, disturbance, removal of trees, dead materials, and construction activities to the development of infrastructure, oil, gas, wind etc. affect the owl’s habitat loss.

4.    Roads and Trails: The construction of roads have fragmented the owl’s habitat as an indirect action.

5.    Land Development and Recreation: Land development and recreation have also been a threat to the owl given that they increase human disturbances.

b.    Natural and Manmade Factors

1.    Noise and Disturbance: The owls can really be affected in their behaviors by any noise-producing activity. There are chances that it will increase stress, predators, and affect their nesting.

2.    Climate Change: The global increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere can change the distribution of the owl, and will enlarge the chances of competitors and predators. Their demographics rates and interaction will also shift and the warming will heighten the severity of habitat destruction.

          c.   Predation

Owls are known to eat each other. The great horned owl preys on the spotted owls and the barred owl encroaches them as well.

Recovery Plan

The conservation efforts being done to delist this species are listed under the recovery plan which declares its goal to fully recover the specie in less than 10 years if the criteria’s are implemented.

The down listing process will require 5 key elements:

1.    Protect existing populations

2.    Manage habitat

3.    Manage threats

4.    Monitor population and habitat

5.    Conduct research and build partnerships

Learn more about the Recovery Plan by downloading and reading the pdf version to your computer and be informed about the harms we can have on many species.

Personal Action

I have been aware of the dangers many species encounter since I was a child. I lived in Mexico for half my life and when I was eight years old my dad came home from a rural area in the mountains where he harvested with what seem to be a puppy. Lobo, my dog, followed me to school and was basically my best friend until one day when I was walking to school. I didn't notice the small gray puppy was following me until I heard a car come to a loud stop. My dog had collided into a car and died. As I grew older I became aware of the harms my family had done to this animal by having it at home. I realized that my “dog” was in fact a Mexican gray wolf which is the most endangered wolf in the world. My perception of the world has changed and now from my part I will lessen my carbon footprint to help the Mexican spotted owl because it's the best I can do. I will also speak up and make others aware of the changes they can have on this animals if they contribute to the action. Lastly, you and I can make a small considerate action by donating to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and learn to protect the wonders of our world.

Help Out!

Donate to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service which works to conserve many species.

http://www.fws.gov/international/wildlife-without-borders/donations.html

 Work Cited

Corrigan, Bob. “Mexican Spotted Owl.” Encyclopedia of Life. 22 Mar. 2015.Web. 3 Dec. 2015.<http://eol.org/data_objects/17602862>.

“Mexican Spotted Owl.” Our Endangered World, n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.<http://www.ourendangeredworld.com/species/birds-bats/mexican-spotted-owl/>.

“Recovery Plan for the Mexican Spotted Owl, First Revision.” U.S.Fish & Wildlife Service. 16 Oct. 1995. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. <http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/MSO_Recovery_Plan_First_Revision_Dec2012.pdf>.

“Saving the Mexican Spotted Owl.” Center for Biological Diversity, n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. <http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/Mexican_spotted_owl/>.

                                   African Elephants        

                                                           (Loxodonta africana)
                                                         By Kelsey Zerr

        

Description and Ecology

blaineharrington.photoshelter.com

     African elephants are the largest terrestrial mammals on earth with an average weight range of 2.5 to 7 tons, in addition to being anywhere from 8 to 13 foot tall (Erasmus). This species can be distinguished from its Asian counterparts by its large African-continent like shaped ears (Erasmus). These huge ears expel heat allowing the elephant to stay cool. Their long trunks have two extensions at the end and are used for a variety of different purposes such as "smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and also for grabbing things" (Erasmus). Male elephants may use their tusks to assert dominance and win a fight with another male whereas both male and female elephants use their tusks to dig up food and water (Erasmus). They are herbivores that can consume up to 300 pounds of roots, bark, grasses and fruit per day. Elephants routinely take dust baths to "protect [their] skin from parasites and biting insects"("Elephants Behavior").  Additionally this species has one of the longest gestation periods of any mammals, typically lasting 22 months (Erasmus). According to Sea World, elephants have a complex social structure that includes mourning for dead elephants and congregating in herds ("Elephants Behavior"). 

http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=77

African elephants spend a large part of their life foraging which causes them to travel very long distances to find an adequate supply of food and water. The African elephant currently graces a wide range of fragmented habitats across the African continent. These include deserts, grasslands, dense forests and savannas ("Loxodonta Africana"). African elephants aid the survival of other species in their habitats by digging up water holes, dispersing seeds and paving large paths through forests that help keep fires under control ("African Elephant").

                                                                       



Geographic and Population Changes
     Millions of African elephants once roamed the African continent but within the last century they have been reduced to a mere fraction of that number. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service reports that by 1990, their numbers had been reduced to less than 500,000. A recent increase in poaching in the 21st century has lead to numbers declining even further to an estimated 420,000 across Africa (United States of America). About 100,000 were thought to be killed between 2010 and 2012 alone. Forest elephants have lost 30% of their habitat in the past 10 years. East Africa was down to 13, 084 individuals by 2013. West African elephants are losing huge amounts of habitat because of warfare. South Africa continues to have the largest population of elephants however in the past few years poachers have started targeting those areas as well (United States of America).
 
 Listing Date and Type of Listing

www.liberalamerica.org

     The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service listed the African Elephant in 1978. The species' current status is threatened across all populations however as recently as February 12th of 2015, a petition has been filed to uplist the species to endangered.

Main Threats to Continued Existence
     Historically the major cause of decline amongst the African elephant population has been poaching for their ivory tusks ("Loxodonta Africana"). Ivory has been and still is a valuable commodity. Catholic followers (especially those

http://www.mirror.co.uk

in Southeast Asia), and the country of China are currently the biggest sources of economic demand in the illegal ivory trade. They transform ivory into a variety of products such as jewelry, religious figurines, souvenirs and much more. Since African elephant tusks have such immense monetary value, global ivory traders pay a small salary to African locals to murder these animals. On the other hand in the present day, the main cause of decline is loss and fragmentation of habitat caused by humans converting land into agriculture. This fragmentation of habitat puts many stresses upon the animals causing them to not survive and reproduce as effectively. Poaching also continues to persist. ("Loxodonta Africana")
     
Recovery
      In 1990, the ivory trade was made illegal. In addition, portions of land throughout the continent were set aside as animal sanctuaries. Wildlife managers work to catch poachers and enforce the law.  
These managers also work to maintain the habitat. For example if the elephant densities in a certain area become too high, and therefore start having negative effects on other species and the habitat, managers work to relocate individuals. Additionally to reduce the elephant mortality caused by locals, programs have been established to allow locals to charge money for trophy hunters to hunt a certain amount of animals from around their community. There is still much more work to be done however as poaching continues to be a huge threat. ("Loxodonta Africana")

http://www.hippowallpapers.com

What Can You Do?

  -Write a persuasive letter to Pope Francis     asking Him to endorse a ban of the use ivory at:
            His Holiness, Pope Francis 
              Apostolic Palace 
            00120 Vatican City 

   -Reduce the economic demand of ivory by 
    restraining from purchasing ivory products
         
                       

Works Cited

"African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana)." Edge of Existence. Evolutionary Distinct and Globally     

    

    Endangered, n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. <http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?

    id=77>.

"Elephants Behavior." Sea World. Sea World Parks and Entertainment, 2015. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. 

     <http://seaworld.org/animal-info/animal-infobooks/elephants/behavior/>.

Erasmus, Morkel. "African Elephant." National Geographic n.d.: n. pag. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. 

    <http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/african-elephant/>.

"Loxodonta Africana." IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. 

    

    <http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/12392/0>.

               

United States of America. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana). 

    N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. <http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/profile/speciesProfile?

    spcode=A07U>.

The New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse

by Casey Ting

Description and Ecology

The New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus) is primarily endemic to New Mexico, but is also found in Arizona and a small part of southern Colorado. In terms of appearance, the Jumping Mouse ranges from 7.4 to 10 inches long and has yellowish-brown and gray fur, elongated feet, and a long tail. They are generally nocturnal animals and hibernate longer than most mammals (about nine months). Their diet consists of mainly insects (i.e. larvae and beetles), but also includes grass seeds, fruits, and fungi. Though they create their nests in dry soil, the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mice utilize moist wetlands for vegetation purposes. As an animal that loves water, their habitats are often located near water sources and streams, ranging from 0.37 to 2.7 acres.

(Jumping Mouse habitat)

Geographic and Population Changes

Since the 1980s, the number of mouse populations has decreased significantly. Seventy previously inhabited locations are now extirpated, leaving only twenty-nine surviving populations since 2005. Of these twenty-nine populations, all of the habitats do not have a sufficient amount of land to support the populations. Additionally, eleven of these twenty-nine populations have been threatened and hurt by water shortages, grazing, wildfire, and post-fire flooding.

(Jumping Mouse populations in New Mexico & Arizona)

Listing Date and Type

Due to the extreme decline in the mouse populations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse as “endangered” on July 7, 2014.

Main Threats

The main threat for the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse lies in habitat modification and fragmentation. Threats like grazing and water management/usage results in vegetation loss due to mowing and drying of soils. Additionally, due to climate change, there is a lack of water, drought, and wildfires that are detrimental to the mice populations. Other threats include floods, loss of beaver ponds, highway construction, methane development, and unregulated recreation.

Recovery Plan

The recovery needs of the Jumping Mouse can be categorized into three factors: resiliency, redundancy, and representation. Because the populations of the mice are too small, they are not resilient enough to maintain themselves, especially when factors such as climate change and wildfire threaten the environment. This stems into low redundancy, in which the mice populations cannot expand due to their small and isolated condition. While some diversity of populations is maintained, only half of the conservation areas have multiple populations. All of these factors contribute to an overall low species viability, making the probability of the Jumping Mouse becoming extinct within the next ten years very likely.

The FWS has focused its recovery plan on ensuring that populations are stabilized, restored, and able to expand. Some of its goals are to establish partnerships with other organizations to install barriers, modify livestock management techniques (i.e. fencing, grazing units, water development, etc.), and protect habitats from the threats mentioned above. A more research-oriented focus of the recovery plan includes determining the current the amount of mice populations, researching the genetic diversity of the populations, and studying important aspects of the Jumping Mouse’s life history (i.e. reproduction, abundance, survival, movement behavior).

For more information, check out this website: http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=A0BX

Sources:

http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/NewMexico/NMMJM.cfm

http://www.wildearthguardians.org/site/PageServer?pagename=species_mammals_NM_meadow_jumping_mouse#.VmDAeOODGkp

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r3/home/?cid=stelprd3809040

                             

The Sperm Whale:

By Sam Van Nest 

                                        

Description and Ecology:
Sperm whales are some of the largest animals in the world. Male sperm whales can grow up to 18 m long, weighing in at around 45 tons, while females grow up to 11 m long, and weigh a much smaller 15 tons. The largest recorded sperm whales were 22 m long and weighed 65 tons.  Sperm whales have large box-shaped heads making up two thirds of their total body length. Found inside this abnormally larger head sits an
abnormally larger brain.  In fact, sperm whales house the largest brain in the world. This brain is surrounded by a massive spermaceti organ. This organ containing spermaceti, is a waxy liquid which helps generate clicks for communication. Scientist believe this organ may help with the whales buoyancy and echolocation. An "S" shaped blowhole is positioned at the top front of their nose. Sperm whales have large powerful lower jaws with large cone shaped teeth and and small to no teeth on the top jaw. Behind their jaw are grooves allowing the throat to expand during eating. Sperm whales are covered with dark grey skin that is smoother around its head and turns to rough dimples as it moves towards its tail end. Small fins can also be found on either side of its body. Sperm whales do not have a pronounced dorsal fin but rather small bumps the largest of looking like a hump near the end of its back. Sperm whales generally swim in larger pods of 15-20 whales.  These pods consist of young and female whales with few males. At the age of 5-20 male sperm whales will leave their maternal pods; joining different pods of males throughout their life until finally swimming solo near the end of its life. Sperm whales will live for around 70 years. These whales communicate with each other through clicks and have been found to protect there young or weak. Accounts have been reported of sperm whales teaming up to fight back predators like killer whales. Females will create a circle around their young to protect them. These mammals enjoy deep water but have return to the surface for air. They will spend anywhere from 45-90 minutes underwater and around 7 minutes near the surface. These whales can eat up to 1000kg of small fish and squid a day. Sperm whales mainly hunt around 2600 ft but will dive all the way to 10,000 ft to feast on giant squid.
Geographic and Population changes:
Sperm whales are found in almost every ocean, but mostly stay clear of polar seas and coasts. They are found as far south as latitude 40 and as far north as latitude 50. When it comes to population size and structure little data is held certain. According to an estimate by Hal Whitehead in 2002 the population size was approximately  360,000. This is a huge decrease to the estimated 1,100,000 pre-hunted sperm whales. Though, these estimates are not that reliable. Due to just the sheer size of the ocean and lack of funds backing sperm whale population study's makes it very difficult to determine. A few things are known for certain though. Catch records before 1988 (prior to the end of whaling by IWC) showed a decline in sperm whale populations over the years. An estimated 68% of sperm whales were killed by whaling efforts. Sperm whales are still the most abundant whales found in oceans worldwide.
ESA Listing of Sperm Whales:
Sperm Whales were listed as an endangered species under the ESA on December 2, 1970. Since then several recovery plans have been published with the newest being published on December 21, 2010. The main cause of the listing of sperm whales was due to over whaling on a global scale. In 1988 the international whaling committee was created. IWC focused on protecting all whales around the world. IWC ended the commercial whale trade and allowed only japan to hunt and kill whales for scientific reasons. This largely brought an end to the sperm whales main threat. Other threats include collision with vessels, entanglement with fishing gear,  habitat degradation, loss of prey due to climate change, and pollutants. The ESA recovery plan focuses on down listing the species from endangered to threatened and optimally delisting entirely. The ESA recovery plan emphasize the gathering of general information on sperm whales from population structure and discreetness to size. This is to help better understand the sperm whale and outline steps to take in its delisting. The fact that sperm whales travel through international borders freely means a large focus must be held on a multinational approach to management. This does complicate matters but is the only logical approach to take. Luckily the IWC has been focused on this task for nearly 3 decades. It is believed that sperm whale population are not declining and the big goal for ESA as of now is to properly recored the species abundance and structure.

Personal Actions: 

The good that can be taken from this blog is that the Sperm Whale is no longer in any serious danger. Little personal action can be taken, but there is a few things you can do. If you ever come face to face with a sperm whale poacher, tell them to stop. Don't buy an spermatic wax candles or sperm oil. And if you still feel the urge to do more you can send a letter to Caroline Kennedy the us ambassador to Japan and ask if their is any thing she could do regarding the killing of Sperm whales for scientific purposes.

Here are some sites you can visit to find out more

http://www.savethewhales.org/sperm.html

http://us.whales.org/species-guide

Work citied:

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2010/12/28/2010-32692/endangered-and-threatened-species-recovery-plan-for-the-sperm-whale

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Sperm_whale_Recovery_Plan.pdf

http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=109

http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/hw/Sperm_Population_Whitehead.pdf

http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/sperm-whale.html

http://www.whalefacts.org/sperm-whale-facts/