Species guide
Pygmy sperm whale
Kogia breviceps
At a glance
Conservation, taxonomy and Madeira records reviewed . Review sources.
- Global IUCN conservation status
- Least Concern — assessment published .
Global extinction risk is separate from sighting frequency in Madeira.
- Identification
- Small, robust, dark blue-grey body with wrinkled skin and white or pinkish undersides
- Squarish, short head with distinct hump at the rear back
- Size
- Maximum length: 3.5 m
- Recorded occurrence in Madeira
- Reported on local trips, including July 2026.
- Madeira records and season
- No dependable seasonal window established by the cited records.
Identification and size summarize profile notes updated . Local records are past observations, not a prediction of sightings.
Read the identification notes ↓- Taxonomic authority
- (Blainville, 1838)
- Family
- Kogiidae
- Cetacean group
- Odontoceti
Sightings in Madeira
The 2012 checklist records pygmy sperm whales through sightings, catches and strandings; detectability and identification at sea limit inferences about frequency. Historical evidence.
Our July 2026 trip report lists this species. This is an operator observation, not a population estimate.
No dependable seasonal window established by the cited records. The months in individual reports should not be treated as the limits of a season.
ID characteristics
Small, robust, dark blue-grey body with wrinkled skin and white or pinkish undersides
Squarish, short head with distinct hump at the rear back
Very small, hooked, rounded dorsal fin set well behind mid-back
Surface behaviour
Difficult whale to see except in very calm seas
Very slow swimmer and may float motionless at surface
Normally sinks below surface though sometimes rolls when diving
Distribution
Worldwide between parallels 40º North and 40º South
Deep temperate and tropical waters, mainly beyond the continental shelf
Social
In groups from 3 to 6 individuals
Diet
Mainly squid but sometimes feeds on fish and crustaceans
Biometrics
Max length: 3.5 m
Adult weight: 315 to 400 kg
Blow
very low and inconspicuous to invisible
Common names in other languages
- Portuguese: Cachalote pigmeu
- German: Zwergpottwal
- French: Cachalot Pygmée, Petit cachalot
- Spanish: Cachalote Pigmeo, Cachalote Cabeza Chica
- Italian: Cogia di De Blainville
- Dutch: Dwergpotvis
- Polish: Kaszalot mały
- Swedish: Pygmékaskelot
- Norwegian: Dvergspermhval (Bokmål), Dvergspermkval (Nynorsk)
Names vary by language and region. This list is not exhaustive. Multilingual name records. Norwegian names: University of Bergen Marine Lexicon. Unresolved Scandinavian names are omitted to avoid confusing the two Kogia species.
Review sources
Conservation, taxonomy, local occurrence and seasonality checked on . The assessment publication year is separate from this editorial review date. Identification, size, other biology notes and multilingual aliases are outside this review unless a specific source is cited alongside them.
- IUCN Red List: Kogia breviceps — global species assessment, published 2020.
- Society for Marine Mammalogy: species and subspecies list (April 2026) — Scientific names, authorities, families and English names. Mysticeti and Odontoceti are treated as unranked groups.
- IUCN SSC Cetacean Specialist Group: Red List status of cetaceans — Global species categories cross-checked against the specialist group's overview, updated October 2025. Regional and subpopulation assessments are separate.
- IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group: first 2020 assessment updates — Global North Atlantic right whale and harbour porpoise assessments, and the Gulf of Corinth common dolphin subpopulation.
- Freitas et al. (2012): New records of cetacean species for Madeira Archipelago with an updated checklist — Table 1 and species accounts distinguish sightings, catches and strandings. Record totals and last-record dates describe evidence available through December 2012.
The linked trip reports document operator observations. They do not independently confirm every identification or measure population size, abundance or the probability of a sighting.