Alaska records for sperm whales cluster around the deep water off Prince William Sound, Kenai Fjords National Park, and Glacier Bay, tracing the continental slope and submarine canyon habitat this species favors in the Gulf of Alaska.
Almost every whale reaching this far north is a bull, since females and young mostly stay in warmer water further south. Sperm whales dive deep to hunt squid and deep-sea fish using powerful echolocation clicks, and in parts of the Gulf of Alaska some have learned to follow longline fishing boats and pull fish straight off the gear before it reaches the surface, a well-documented behavior known as depredation.
Records run through the year with a summer cluster, but every Alaska sighting is genuinely uncommon given how much of this whale’s life happens far below the surface. A handful of reports reflects how little of the open ocean anyone can watch, not how few whales pass through. Commercial whaling took a heavy toll on the species, and the IUCN still lists it as Vulnerable.
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