Whales and Wiener Dogs

Female sperm whale with squid caught between her teeth (Tony Wu)

Photographer Tony Wu captured some extremely rare images off the Ogasawara Islands in Japan earlier this month. It’s believed the images chronicle adult female sperm whales teaching a baby how to dive for, and eat, giant squid.

The squid was caught far to deep for the photographer to snap pictures of the squid actually being caught, but Wu’s photos show the whales with squid still in their mouths at they return to the surface.

The squid was guessed to be up to 30 meters long.

These images were taken in the same area where Japanese scientists used baited hooks and cameras to capture live images of giant squid a few years back.

One scientist proposed this theory about the scene. “As echolocation is pivotal for sperm whales finding their prey, it is not out of the question that the females would release the dead squid at depth and let the calf echolocate and recognise it in the dark deep water, typically around 800 m deep.”

And no Japanese whale boats show up to kill anything.

More photos here.

A giant Humboldt Squid found along the California coast. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

According to Stanford University, there are millions of Humboldt squid off the coast of California, and they are consuming the native fish populations at an alarming rate.

Humboldt Squid can grow up to six feet long and weigh over a hundred pounds. Typically found from Chile to Mexico, their numbers off the California coast have increased dramatically in the last decade. They are now often caught in the lines of deep sea fisherman.