Sperm whales are the deepest-diving and largest-toothed predators in the ocean. They’re also the brainiest. A sperm whale’s brain weighs about 18 pounds - six times more than ours, and bigger than the brain of any other animal that has ever lived, including all the dinosaurs.
What does it do with all that brain? Sonar, for one. Sperm whales hunt giant squid at depths of 2,000 meters in pitch darkness, using clicks loud enough to stun prey and accurate enough to locate a single squid in a vast dark void. Their entire huge boxy forehead is essentially a giant biological sonar generator.
Sperm whales also have rich social lives. They live in tight family groups, each pod with its own unique pattern of clicks - basically a regional accent or dialect that’s passed from mother to calf and shared only within that family.
