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Data on Biology and Exploitation of West Atlantic Sperm Whales, Physeter Macrocephalus (Cetacea: Physeteridae) Off the Coast of Paraíba, Brazil

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Data on Biology and Exploitation of West Atlantic Sperm Whales, Physeter Macrocephalus (Cetacea: Physeteridae) Off the Coast of Paraíba, Brazil ZOOLOGIA 26 (4): 663–673, December, 2009 Data on biology and exploitation of West Atlantic sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus (Cetacea: Physeteridae) off the coast of Paraíba, Brazil Gustavo Toledo & Alfredo Langguth Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, Universidade Federal da Paraíba. Campus Universitário, 58059-900 João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] ABSTRACT. This study analyzes data on the biology of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758, obtained between 1965 and 1980 by the COPESBRA at the Costinha Whaling Station, Paraíba, Brazil. The data come from the log books of the whaling ships and from the spreadsheets containing biological information filled out by employees of the SUDEPE at the flensing plan of the whaling station. The catches occurred from June to December, in an area delimited by 06º22’-07º52’S and 33º26’-34º58’W. A total of 641 sperm whales were killed in this period. The average sex ratio was 2.05 females to each male. The mean largest frequency of females was recorded in the first and the last months of the season, and that of males in July/August. The mean total length (TL) of males was 11.4 m (minimum 7.2 m, maximum 17.6 m). The females had a mean TL of 10.1 m (minimum 8.6 m, maximum 12.9 m). A decrease was observed in the TL of females along the years. Fetuses were observed in 8.3% of the catches. They had TL between 0.24 and 4.3 m. All sperm whales had food in their stomachs, showing that they feed in the area. As in other places north to the 40ºS, there was a higher frequency of females than males. The difference between the time of maximum catch of males and females may reflect a temporal segregation in the arrival of sperm whales in the area. The reproductive activity of sperm whales in these tropical waters occurs year-round. KEY WORDS. Biological data; Costinha Whaling Station; sperm whale. The sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758 During the modern phase, sperm whales were captured the largest of Odontocetes, is one of the animals with widest in Brazil from 1952 to 1980, when, following the IWC recom- distribution on the planet, just compared among mammals to mendation, the Brazilian government banned the commercial the killer whale, Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758), Delphinidae, hunting of sperm whales in Brazilian waters (ROCHA 1980a). the rat, Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769), Muridae, and Two main terrestrial whaling stations captured sperm whales modern humans (WHITEHEAD 2003). Though wide, the distribu- in Brazil. The most important was located in Costinha, state of tion of the sperm whale is not continuous, but rather concen- Paraíba, and was operated by the Companhia de Pesca Norte trates on what the old whalers call “whaling grounds” (TOWNSEND do Brasil (COPESBRA), responsible for almost 2/3 of Brazilian 1935). The latter can be associated with oceanographic condi- captures of sperm whales. COPESBRA operated between 1911 tions, the topography of the sea ground and the primary and and 1985. During this time 19,922 whales of seven different secondary productivity of waters (GASKIN 1982, JAQUET & WHITE- species were captured (KISHIWADA 2007), however, the diversifi- HEAD 1996, JAQUET et al. 1996). cation of the species captured and the use of modern technol- Commercial exploitation of sperm whales began around ogy started only after the Japanese company Nippon Reizo 1712, when large scale operations took place (WHITEHEAD 2002), Kabushiki Kaisha (today Nichirei Corporation) acquired part first in open boats with manual harpoon, and latter (the mod- of the COPESBRA in 1958. ern phase) with ships armed with the cannon-harpoon (STARBUCK The data on processed whales collected by COPESBRA 1878, TØNNESSEN & JOHNSEN 1982). Hunting took place in several after 1958 are the main source of biological information on parts of the globe. In the 1960s, sperm whale hunting intensi- the sperm whales in the eastern coast of South America. Up to fied after a population decline of most large whales, and reached now, such data were used mainly to produce annual reports of a peak in 1964 when 29.255 sperm whales were killed world- captures to the IWC, as for instance the reports of the Brazilian wide (RICE 1989). Finally, in 1980 a partial moratoria and in Delegation for 1975, 1976, 1980 and the papers on catch sta- 1986 a general moratoria of the commercial sperm whaling tistics by GRANGEIRO (1962), FERREIRA & TÁRTARI (1965), PAIVA & was recommended by the International Whaling Commission GRANGEIRO (1965, 1970) and SUDEPE (1977). None of these con- (IWC). tributions focused on the biology of sperm whales. Consider- © 2009 Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia | www.sbzoologia.org.br | All rights reserved. 664 G. Toledo & A. Langguth ing the scarce existing knowledge on sperm whales from the RESULTS West Atlantic of the Southern Hemisphere, this work will study The whaling area extended over the 200 n.miles of ex- some characteristics of the stock of sperm whales exploited off clusive economical zone of Brazil (UNITED NATIONS 1980), con- the coast of Paraíba, Brazil. stituting a small part of the sperm whale IWC Division I of the MATERIAL AND METHODS Southern Hemisphere. This division was defined by the IWC as the area between longitudes 60° and 30ºW (DONOVAN 1980). The present study is based on data gathered during the The catches of sperm whales occurred in a zone delimited by commercial catches of sperm whales made by COPESBRA be- the latitudes 06º22’ and 07º52’S and longitudes 33º26’ and tween 1965 and 1980. Comparative data was taken from the 34º58’W (Fig. 1). In that area, the continental shelf extends International Whaling Statistic (IWS), the papers by SINGARAJAH about 20 miles off the coast and at its border the depth in- (1985), KISHIWADA (2007), PAIVA & GRANGEIRO (1965, 1970), ROCHA creases abruptly from 60 to 4000 m. The substratum in the (1980a, b) WILLIAMSON (1975) and internal reports to SUDEPE shelf area is irregular and rocky. by the Brazilian delegation to the 27th, 28th, and 30th annual The most important oceanographic feature of the area is meetings of the IWC. the proximity to the equatorial current system. The trade winds The whaling station of Costinha (6°57’45”S, 34°51’28”W), from southeast drive the waters to the west, forming the South- municipal district of Lucena, was located on the left margin of equatorial Current. A large part of this current goes to the south Rio Paraíba’s estuary, on the opposite side of Cabedelo’s harbor. and follows a longitudinal N-S direction, until about 40° S, The whaling season lasted from June to December. Back where the direction changes to the east. It is called Current of then, whaling ships set off to sea daily, leaving Cabedelo be- Brazil, and because it comes from the equatorial and tropical tween 03:30-04:00 AM and returning to the factory no later than areas (PEREIRA & SOARES-GOMES 2002), it is characterized by warm 11:00 PM (GRANGEIRO 1962, KISHIWADA 2007). The information on and more saline waters. whales was recorded in the whaler’s log books and in spread- The average superficial water temperature in the whal- sheets of biological data filled out by employees of the former ing area was 27ºC, remaining practically constant during the Superintendência do Desenvolvimento da Pesca (SUDEPE) at the year. The speed of the current fell from 1.04 knots in June to flensing plan of the whaling station. In the log books the fol- 0.60 in December (SINGARAJAH 1984). lowing data was registered: date and hour of departure from Between 1952 and 1980, 686 sperm whales were killed harbor and arrival at the whaling station; numbers of shots fired off the coast of Paraíba (KISHIWADA 2007); of these, 641 catches and of successful shots; name of the ship; port of registration took place between 1965 and 1980. Table I shows the number (RGP) of the ship; the gunner’s name; sequential number of the of annual catches by COPESBRA compared with catches by the animal killed; whale species; date, hour, geographic position and Sociedade de Pesca Taiyo Limitada (SPTL), in Cabo Frio, Rio de number of whales sighted in the group; conditions of the sea, Janeiro. sky, rain, wind, temperature and barometric pressure. The mean total length (TL) of the males caught was 11.4 In the spreadsheets of biological data the whales were m, with a minimum of 7.2 m and a maximum of 17.6 m. Of identified with the same number attributed to them at the time these, 18% were considered sexually mature because they were of capture in the log book. The former contained the date, sex more than 13 m long. The females had a mean TL of 10.1 m and total length (in meters and feet) of the whale, thickness of with minimum and maximum lengths of 8.6 and 12.9 m, re- the blubber, presence of food in the stomach, size of the testes spectively. Five females (1%) measured between 8.6 and 8.9 m, (males), sex and total length of the fetus (when present) and a a size considered immature by WHITEHEAD et al. (1997). field for other observations. There were no records of captured calves of less than one In this study, we defined a group as two or more animals year of age accompanied by their mothers. moving together and in a coordinate way. To determine the state A decrease of mean TL was observed among females with of sexual maturation, the classification of WHITEHEAD et al.
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