Animals on the move

Sperm whales of the Gulf, two views

51 satellite-tagged sperm whales, drawn from above and in 3D, playing in sync.

Medium: 51 satellite tags, 2002 to 2006, and the Gulf seafloor
Length: 36 s
Collection: Animals on the move
Posted: Nov 10, 2026

The story

These whales were tagged in four summers, 2002 to 2005, for a federal study of how sperm whales respond to seismic surveys. Every whale starts on the day it was tagged, so all four summers set out together and spread across the Gulf over 600 days.

Left, from above over lit seafloor contours. Right, the seafloor in 3D as ridgelines, with each whale at the surface and a line down to the bottom below it. 94% of their 3,150 positions were over water 200 to 2,000 meters deep: the steep slope between the shallow shelf and the deep Gulf.

What you're seeing

Color is the year a whale was tagged.
Bright dots on the right mark where the seafloor crosses 1,000 m.
Depth in the 3D view is exaggerated.

Data

Have an interesting day.