Florida mammals

Pygmy Sperm Whale in Florida

Kogia breviceps

Native to Florida SNR Unranked in Florida

Not listed as nonindigenous in Florida by USGS NAS; native to its Florida range.

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: Daniel Benák · CC BY 4.0Live pygmy sperm whales logging at the sea surface, backs and dorsal fins exposedPhoto: Daniel Benák · CC BY 4.0Two live pygmy sperm whales logging at the sea surface off a coastal village, dorsal fins exposedPhoto: Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová · CC BY 4.0Live pygmy sperm whale surfacing at the water line in calm hazy water

Photo: Daniel Benák · CC BY 4.0Live pygmy sperm whales logging at the sea surface, backs and dorsal fins exposedPhoto: Daniel Benák · CC BY 4.0Two live pygmy sperm whales logging at the sea surface off a coastal village, dorsal fins exposedPhoto: Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová · CC BY 4.0Live pygmy sperm whale surfacing at the water line in calm hazy water

Pygmy Sperm Whale in Florida, by the numbers

Rare in Florida 95th most recorded of 116 mammals logged in Florida

370 occurrence records

4 with iNaturalist photos

Apr 26, 2025 Last seen in Florida

370 total records count every Florida occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 367 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Pygmy Sperm Whale in Florida

Most sightings fall in July to October.

367 Florida occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Florida records (table)

Month	Records
January	34
February	35
March	40
April	31
May	31
June	14
July	33
August	38
September	42
October	37
November	14
December	18

Monthly pygmy sperm whale occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Florida.

Seasonality

Year-round in Florida, with recorded sightings peaking in July–October, with a smaller rise in January–May.

Occurrence map

Where Pygmy Sperm Whale has been recorded in Florida

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

274 Florida records mapped

Where it's recorded in Florida

County	Records
Brevard County	25
St. Lucie County	20
Martin County	19
Volusia County	18
St. Johns County	16
Palm Beach County	13
Duval County	9
Indian River County	9
Flagler County	9
Broward County	6
Monroe County	6
Pinellas County	5
13 other counties	215

The complete county distribution, spread across 25 Florida counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Florida has 370 recorded pygmy sperm whale records, and nearly all of them, 366, come from GBIF rather than iNaturalist, a split that points to stranding data rather than live sightings of this small, deep-diving whale. It’s native to Florida’s waters, and NatureServe hasn’t assigned the state a numeric rank (SNR).

Records peak in September with 42, closely followed by March at 40 and August at 38. Unlike many Florida marine mammals, this species shows records spread fairly evenly across most months, dipping only in June and November.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Full species profile Pygmy Sperm Whale Kogia breviceps Size 2.7–4 m8.9–13.1 ft Weight 320–450 kg705.5–992.1 lb Lifespan Up to 17 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Florida in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap