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A sperm whale that appears in the classic American novel ‘Moby Dick’.
For the first time in our East Sea, the entire body of a sperm whale was captured by a drone camera.
Killer whales and black killer whales, which were difficult to see in the past, were also discovered.
Reporter Lee Don-wook will tell you about it alone.
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It is off the coast of Sokcho, Gangwon-do.
A large whale slowly rises to the surface, takes a deep breath and releases a stream of water.
Then, it disappears back into the sea with a powerful tail.
The overall color of the body is gray, and the blunt head is characteristic of a ‘sperm whale’.
Sperm whales, the largest of the toothed whales, are known to reach up to 20 meters in length at maturity.
The sperm whale caught this time is a young individual about 5 meters long, but this is the first time that the whole body has been captured.
Whales are most frequent in our seas between late April and early May, and the Whale Research Center recorded it on video during a regular survey in the East Sea.
Although sperm whales have been observed about five times in the East Sea, the exact number of sperm whales is still in need of further study.
In addition to the killer whales, which are known to be the top predators of the sea, the survey also discovered a new herd of black killer whales estimated to be about 200.
[김은호/국립수산과학원 고래연구센터 박사]
“Through this survey, we were able to find out that humpback whales, sperm whales, and killer whales also live together with people near the coast of Korea.”
Following various dolphins, minke whales, and humpback whales that were previously discovered in our sea, a variety of whales are newly identified, and the number of whales is estimated to be gradually increasing.
This is Lee Don-wook from MBC News.
Video coverage: Choi Young / Ulsan
Video provided by: Whale Research Center, National Academy of Fisheries Science
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