"The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale (odontocete) having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter. The synonym Physeter catodon refers to the same species. It is one of three extant species in the sperm whale superfamily, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale.
A bull can grow to 20.5 metres (67 ft) long. It is the largest living toothed animal. The head can represent up to one-third of the animal's length. It has a cosmopolitan distributionacross the oceans. The species feeds on squid and fish, diving as deep as 3 kilometres (9,800 ft), which makes it the deepest diving mammal. Its diet includes giant squid andcolossal squid. The sperm whale's clicking vocalization is the loudest sound produced by any animal, but its functions are uncertain. These whales live in groups called pods. Pods of females and their young live separately from older males. The females cooperate to protect and nurse their young. Females give birth every three to six years, and care for the calves for more than a decade.
Historically, the sperm whale was also known as the common cachalot; "cachalot" is derived from an archaic French word for "tooth". Over most of the period from the early 18th century until the late 20th century, the sperm whale was hunted to obtain spermaceti and other products, such as sperm oil and ambergris. Spermaceti found many important uses, such as candles, soap, cosmetics and machine oil. Due to its size, the sperm whale could sometimes defend itself effectively against whalers. In the most famous example, a sperm whale attacked and sank the American whaleship Essex in 1820. As a result of whaling, the sperm whale is currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. The sperm whale has few natural predators, since few are strong enough to successfully attack a healthy adult; orcas attack pods and kill calves. The sperm whale can live for more than 70 years."
Like the sperm whale, YOU should be careful about SUCKERS around you - they can be dangerous.
APOCOPE is NOT the kind of cutting performed by The California Cutter CATHERINE KIEU BECKER.
"In phonology, apocope (pronounced /əˈpɒkəpiː/, from the Greek apokoptein "cutting off", from apo- "away from" and koptein "to cut") is the loss of one or more sounds from the end of a word, and especially the loss of an unstressed vowel.""The name sperm whale is an apocopation of spermaceti whale.
Spermaceti, originally mistaken for the whales' "sperm", is the semi-liquid, waxy substance found in the spermaceti organ or case in front of and above the skull bone and also in the junk, the area below the spermaceti organ and just above the upper jaw.[3] "
"The case consists of a soft white, waxy substance saturated with spermaceti oil.
The junk is composed of cavities filled with the same wax and spermaceti oil and intervening connective tissue.[3][4][5] The sperm whale is also known as the "cachalot", which is thought to derive from the archaic French for "tooth" or "big teeth", as preserved for example in cachau in the Gascon dialect (a word of either Romance[6] or Basque[7] origin).
The etymological dictionary of Corominas says the origin is uncertain, but it suggests that it comes from the vulgar Latin cappula [and even more vulgar in Romanian], plural of cappulum, sword hilt.[8]
According to Encarta Dictionary, the word cachalot came to English "via French from Spanish or Portuguese cachalote, perhaps from [Portuguese] cachola, 'big head'".
The term is retained in the Russian word for the animal, кашалот (kashalot), as well as in many other languages."
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| Saint Helena | ||||||
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| Motto: "Loyal and Unshakeable" | ||||||
Saint Helena (
/ˌseɪnt həˈliːnə/, saynt-hə-lee-nə), named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of theBritish overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha[3] which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha. Saint Helena measures about 16 by 8 kilometres (10 by 5 mi) and has a population of 4,255 (2008 census).[2]"
The island was uninhabited when discovered by the Portuguese in 1502. It is one of the most isolated islands in the world. For centuries, it was an important stopover for ships sailing to Europe from Asia and South Africa. The British also used the island as a place of exile, most notably for Napoleon I, Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo and more than 5,000 Boer prisoners. Saint Helena is now Britain's second oldest remaining colony (now termed overseas territory), after Bermuda."
"Saint Helena is one of the few territories in the world which has never had a recorded HIV / AIDS case."=================
Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!
Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ (wait until Beth posts the today's Linky tool for the meme, then make your entry, if you want to join).
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6 comments:
Enjoyed this post. Some of my fondest memories are whale watching excursions. Happy PFF!
Amazing amount of interesting information here! I'll have to come back and read it again.
I happened upon the word "megafauna" yesterday - whales are megafauna.
At least I knew St Helena but most of the rest was new to me. I even thought the image was a multi-view until I looked more closely.
When I read Moby Dick I learned that the spermaciti was used to annoint the kings of Europe. Valuable and highly esteemed stuff.
The postcard look gorgeous, I like those different shape and size of whales. Thanks for sharing tidbits of St. Helena
Interesting - and funny - as usual!
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