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A white sperm whale, recorded on Monday by Leo van Toly from a Dutch merchant ship off the coast of Jamaica, is the most mythological animal in the ocean.

Leo van Toly, who had been sailing on a Dutch merchant vessel off the coast of Jamaica, recorded as a spout of water was visibly blown into the air by the animal through its blowhole.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fully white sperm whale.”

Type of whale immortalised in Moby-Dick has only been spotted handful of times this century

At the peak of the whaling industry, in the late 1800s, North Atlantic right whales were slaughtered in their thousands. With each carcass hauled on to the deck, whalers were taking more than just bones and flesh out of the ocean. The slaughtered whales had unique memories of feeding grounds, hunting techniques and communication styles; knowledge acquired over centuries, passed down through the generations and shared between peers. The critically endangered whale clings on, but much of the species’ cultural knowledge is now extinct. Whales are among the many animals known to be highly cultur...