For the Jacques Cousteau fans out there…

http://www.observerchronicle.com/ocnews-in-deep-sea-rov-team-encounters-sperm-whale/2654/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkBpummjR5I

Scientists were amazed when a sperm whale swam past their underwater ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) camera set-up, 1,962ft underwater.

E/V Nautilus oceanographers were exploring the Gulf of Mexico, just off the coast of Louisiana, US, on an expedition to map the Galapagos Rift.

They were on a quest to gain a better understanding of how life develops around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.

Robert Ballard along with his team were studying the Gulf of Mexico for E/V Nautilus during an expedition to examine the hydrothermal vents. They were using a remotely run undersea motor vehicle (ROV) and were at the depth of 1900 feet into the sea.

During their visit they met a strange visitor. At first one of the team members thought it was humpback whale but later on they identified it as a sperm whale. It was very much curious and wandered around the ROV many times. At times it came very close to the vehicle.

One of the Scientists said when they encountered the whale, “What the heck is that?”

About the encounter the team said, “Encounters between sperm whales and ROVs are incredibly rare.”

Video of the encounter was posted on Youtube and it has already crossed one million views. The oceanographers watched the whale move around the ROV and sounded very excited and happy at the chance of a lifetime meeting a whale at such close quarters. It was so close that they could see the spotted marks on the whale’s nose.

Sperm whale is the loudest species on Earth. They are also called cachalot and can make calls up to 230 decibels. They are quite an intelligent creature with a massive brain of twenty pounds. Sperm whale is considered as one of the largest toothed predators in the world. Its life span ranges up to 60 years and its length is around 60 feet. A lot of them were hunted for their wax-like spermaceti that is used as a lubricant and in fuel lamps and candles. Now it falls in the endanegred species zone.