Did you know the sperm whale is named the sperm whale because it has an enormous fluid-filled organ in its head? The fluid is white and globby, and whalers of the 18th and 19th centuries thought it was in fact sperm. It's not, but scientists don't really know what it's for. 
Sperm whales give birth to only one calf at a time and they are THIRTEEN FEET LONG at birth -- humongous! Because the babies can't dive very deep, groups of sperm whale mamas group up and protect the babies together.
Scientists have determined that all the sperm whales in the world are descended from one mega-matriarch who they've dubbed "Eve." They've found this from studying whale mitochondrial DNA. But this Eve wouldn't eat an apple! Sperm whales mostly eat cephalopods.
Sperm whales are in some ways examples of unchanging and timeless majesty. Large sperm whales with all of the characteristics of present-day sperm whales lived 20 million years ago! Humans weren't around yet but sperm whales were fully formed. Humbling!
The titular whale of Moby-Dick was most likely an albino sperm whale. His real-life counterpart was an albino sperm whale named Mocha Dick (yes, really), who destroyed 20 whaling ships & evaded 80 more. One of the most famed whales of the 19th century!
This has been: tweeting whale facts during the state of the union. Stay whale, my friends 🐋🐳🐳🐋🐋
If you enjoyed these facts please listen to my podcast @mobydickenergy which is about the Big Gay Whaling Book I Love More Than Anything ps there are species of barnacles that have adapted to live on whales! it's thought that some whales use the barnacles as armor during fights!
