The main food of the sperm whale consists of bathypelagic species of cephalopods, which live in the water column below the surface layer. Today, about 40 species of mollusks are known, accounting for more than 90% of the total mass of food for sperm whales. In search of food, whales dive deeply. Sea giants catch prey at a depth of at least 500 m, where they have almost no food rivals. The hunting session lasts about 1 hour, but the technology of catching shellfish is not known exactly. Scientists suggest that to search for food sperm whales use ultrasound echolocation (sonar). High-frequency sounds disorient the mollusks in space, and they become easy prey for whales. Cuttlefish that live close to the water surface, sperm whales do not consume.
Spermaceous whales prefer to feed near the edge of the continental shelf. In these places, deep ocean currents bring to the surface a huge number of different living creatures – octopus, fish, crustaceans.
Fish occupies the second place in the diet of whales and is only 5% of the total mass of food eaten by sperm whales. More than 50 species of fish were found in the stomachs of these mammals. It is known that whales prefer to eat perch, stingrays, terpug, salmon bulls. In the diet of sperm whales included and small sharks, saury, pollock.
