Sperm Whale
Physeter macrocephalus
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassMammalia (Mamífers)
- OrderCetacea
- FamilyPhyseteridae (True Sperm Whales)
- GenusPhyseter (True Sperm Whales)
- SpeciesPhyseter macrocephalus (Sperm Whale)
Closest Relatives at Galápagos Islands
Bottlenose Dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Killer Whale
Orcinus orca
Humpback Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
Common Dolphin
Delphinus delphis
Short-finned Pilot Whale
Globicephala macrorhynchus
Eden's Whale
Balaenoptera edeni
Blue Whale
Balaenoptera musculus
Cuvier's Beaked Whale
Ziphius cavirostris
Minke Whale
Balaenoptera acutorostrata
False Killer Whale
Pseudorca crassidens
Dwarf Sperm Whale
Kogia sima
Striped Dolphin
Stenella coeruleoalba
📅 Monthly Probability
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 4 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 7 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Sperm Whale in Galápagos Islands?
About 4% of visitor-days record a Sperm Whale sighting in Galápagos Islands, based on 7 observer-days of citizen-science data from GBIF.
When is the best time to see Sperm Whale in Galápagos Islands?
February has the highest sighting rate for Sperm Whale in Galápagos Islands in our monthly data.