hter gray on the sides, and
gradually fading to a dull white on the belly. The outer surface of the
flippers and the upper surface of the tail flukes are also steel gray.

Natural History Notes

From the few accounts, the following may be summarized about the
behavior of pygmy sperm whales at sea: They reportedly usually rise
slowly to the surface to breathe, produce a blow that is inconspicuous,
and do not normally roll aggressively at the surface like most other
species of small whales. They reportedly fold their flippers flat
against their bodies when swimming. They have been reported to lie
motionless in the water with the back of the head on the surface and the
tail hanging loosely down in the water. (A similar behavior in sperm
whales has made them a minor hazard to shipping, since it has resulted
in some collisions with ships.) When they are startled in this posture,
they may defecate, issuing a cloud of reddish brown to rust-colored
fece. Beached pygmy sperm whales have also been observed to defecate a
fine chocolate feces.

Pygmy sperm whales apparently feed primarily on squid, but do take fish
as well.

May Be Confused With

In general, when they can be examined at close range, pygmy sperm whales
are so distinctive that they are unlikely to be confused with any other
species except perhaps the dwarf sperm whales. At a distance, they might
be confused with small individuals of any of the beaked-whale species
(p. 78) that also have a relatively small, falcate dorsal fin located in
the latter third of the back. Closer examination should permit easy
separation, however, since the pygmy sperm whale has a blunted head,
while the beaked whales, as the name implies, have elongated
"dolphinlike" beaks and are considerably larger. At sea, pygmy sperm
whales are most likely to be confused with their cousins the dwarf sperm
whales (p. 148 and Fig. 160). The two species can be distinguished as
follows:

PYGMY SPERM WHALE DWARF SPERM WHALE

MAXIMUM SIZE

To 11 feet (3.4 m). To 9 feet (2.7 m).

DORSAL FIN

Small to 8 inches (20.3 cm), Taller, more like that of
falcate; located in latter third bottlenosed dolphins; located
of back. near the midpoint of the
back.

COLORATION

Both species are dark ste