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Earth

Sperm whales are tracking fishing boats and stealing their fish

By Adam Popescu

8 June 2018

91av. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Incoming thief

NOAA

Sperm whales have turned burglar. They have learned to follow commercial fishing boats off the coast of Alaska, and then pick huge volumes of fish from the lines. It now seems they can take about 5% of the fishermen’s annual quotas.

Sperm whales are the largest toothed predators on Earth. . Lone whales typically harass boats in the eastern Gulf of Alaska. When they attack a boat they work feverishly to pick fish from the hooks, sometimes without damaging the gear or even…

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