While we were at Crane Point Hammock in the museum there was an exhibit on A Fatal Accident that took place in March of 1992, when a fisherman found a skull on a sand flat in the Florida Keys with a bone protruding from its skull. It was determined that the skull was that of a small Pygmy Sperm Whale and the bone protruding from its skull was that of a Broadbill Swordfish.
Both the Pygmy Sperm Whale and the Broadbill Sword fish feed on squid and other cephalopods. Both of them do not normally have instances when one kills the other. This freak accident most likely occurred when they were feeding on the same food or when the swordfish started randomly ramming into the poor sperm whale. The Broadbill Swordfish is known for ramming into whales, ships, submarines and other floating objects.
More information on Broadbill Swordfish can be found here. It is interesting to learn that they are the second fastest fish, which makes it understandable how they seem to ram into objects all the time. They also have extremely good eye sight that allows them to better see their prey. Interestingly enough, they don't ram into most of their prey. Instead, they slash them to injure them to make it easier to catch them.
Hi Kaitlyn, I also read about this small exhibit at the Crane Point Hammock, and I thought it was one of if not the most interesting part of the small museum present at the park. Until around this time last year, I had never even heard of a Pygmy Sperm Whale, let alone knew that they were a species of whale that could be found not very far off the eastern coast of the United States. I found it very cool that scientists were able to find one of these very rare animals that had died in possibly one of the most unlikely ways imaginable. I had heard of swordfish and other large billfish ramming boats and submarines with their spears either by mistake or while hooked on a fishing line. However, I have never heard of it happening to another animal, let alone killing such said animal.
ReplyDelete