Common Cachalot

The Common Cachalot, known to some non-native people as the Sperm Whale, is a large whale frequently sighted in the waters around the island. The usage of the archaic French and Latin name for the whales suggests it was first identified by early traders long ago in the Ancient Era.

Description

A large toothed whale, the Cachalot reaches about eleven meters in length, weighing in at approximately fourteen tons. It's well known for it's blocky head and triangular flukes, these most often seen raised out of the water before a feeding dive, and the lack of a dorsal fin and instead ridges make for a distinctive look. Mostly gray in color, their skin has been described as wrinkly and prune-like on the back. Albinos and patchy colored animals have been spied.

Interestingly, very few babies or immature, smaller whales are ever reported, nearly all of the animals sighted appear to be adult, young more rarely seen than even albino specimens.

Habitat, Behavior and Diet

Sightings of the whales have been reported in virtually all ocean areas around the island, with slightly greater concentrations noted to the east of the island. The whales reported in the western waters are often said to be the largest of the species. Social animals, the whales are often spotted in pods of four or five individuals, solo sightings often a whale returning to the surface after feeding and yet to gather again with her pod.

The common sight of the whale's flukes rising from the water before a dive signify the whale beginning to feed. Naiad's have recorded the whales reaching a depth of two kilometers in search of food, though they most often dive 500 to 800 meters. Feeding mainly on squid, octopus and ray fish, their diet consists mostly of medium sized squid. The largest of the whales seem to make a point of searching for the giant or colossal squid, as evidenced by the scar marks left by the large squid's suckers.

Inquisitive, the whales often meet any fishing boats or trading boats which move through their territory, though they display mild caution and stay generally out of reach of the boats despite there being no history of whale hunting in Yuriba. People swimming in the deep enough waters, however, are approached much more readily, often being followed or gently bumped and nosed by the big mammals, though such encounters are limited to only the strongest swimmers or humanoids able to go out to the depth of water the whales live in.

The whales do not communicate with whale-song like many non-natives may believe, but rather with a series of clicks and groaning sounds that can travel for kilometers through the water. Often hunting in the darkness, the whales also use the clicks as sonar much like bats do, using echo-location to find their prey. A few claim to have been able to communicate on a rudimentary level with the whales, mostly native naiads and non-natives of a more aquatic nature, though what has been recorded of this communication is little more than directional notations and temperature.

There are no records of any whales ever beaching themselves or of a dead whale washing ashore, and they have never been hunted by the native culture. As such, unlike other cultures around the world which use whale bone and teeth in building, artwork and jewelry, there is no evidence of such usage by the native culture.

Folklore

The lack of sightings of young or smaller animals has lead to the belief that the whales are born directly from the sea, emerging from the foam stirred up by a storm. Priestesses of Issui believe the whales to be protectors of the sea, acting as a sort of sentry for the water goddess, their strength evident in their feeding habits, but gentleness confirmed by numerous stories through the ages of the whales assisting boaters and fisherwomen. Some claim to have found a 'whale graveyard' of sorts formed in a spiral pattern far off the southern shore of the island at the edge of where the light reaches into the water, though each of these people note they are also unable to find the site again despite it's rumored size.

Additional Notes

The dragoness Atara was first spotted on her arrival to the island by a group of fisherwomen who thought that she was a strange form of the cachalot, and is often seen swimming and fishing with the whales now days. If she is able to communicate with them on a deeper level than what has been previously noted is not something the woman is willing to divulge. During the Eruption of 2012, the whales were spied in large numbers off the shores of Inishie-san, swimming in large arcs back and forth along the shore, keeping fisherwomen and boaters well away from the area even before the eruption began.