Say I would ask this in the crew board but it seems I can't post there. I was just wondering if could a Sperm Whale to be white like in "Moby Dick.." In a book I was reading it said that sperm whales do turn white as they turn older so could one get old enough to turn completely white. I asked this in the Jeff Corwin boards and someone said a Beluga whale is white, is that true?

Hi steesfan.....
Saw your post/question and scoped out some info from a site titled enchanted learning....
anyway here's the info they offered on Sperm Whales....It's a lot of info..hope this helps.
- thebakerswife

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The sperm whale is a toothed whale that lives in pods. It has a huge brain that weighs about 20 pounds (9 kg); it is the largest brain of any animal. The sperm whale has a single blowhole that is s-shaped and about 20 inches long. The blowhole is located on the left side of the front if its huge head. The sperm whale has a 4-12 inch thick layer of blubber.
Sperm whales produce ambergris, a dark, waxy substance (related to cholesterol) that is produced in the lower intestines, and is sometimes found containing squid beaks. Ambergris may help protect the sperm whale from the stings on the giant squid, its major food. Large lumps of ambergris may be vomited up by the sperm whale.

The fictional Moby Dick was a sperm whale.

SIZE
Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales. Adult males grow to be about 50-60 feet (17-20 m) long, weighing about 40-50 tons (36-45 tonnes). Females are smaller, about 33-40 feet (11-13 m) long, weighing about 14-18 tons. The four-chambered heart of the average sperm whale weighs about 277 pounds (126 kg) - about as much as two average adult human beings.

SKIN, SHAPE AND FINS
The skin is usually dark gray to black, but is occasionally light gray. It has a distinctive, prune-like texture.

Sperm whales have the largest head of any animal. It can be about 20 feet long (6 m), 10 feet high (3 m), and 7 feet (2.1 m) across, and is about one-third of the whale's body length. The head has a distinctive box-like shape. The heads are frequently covered with circular scars that are made by the suckers of the giant squid that they hunt and eat.

It has 5-foot (1.5 m) long flippers that are about 3 feet (0.9 m) wide. There is no dorsal fin but there is a small hump two-thirds of the way down its back. There are also some ridges between the hump and the tail flukes.

THE NAME
The sperm whale was named for the valuable spermaceti oil (wax) that this whale produces in the spermaceti organ (located in its head).

That is very interesting and I think my whale book said something like that. I just wondered though, has it ever been a acounted that they turn white or been white?