KINGDOM:- Animalia.
PHYLUM:- Chordata.
CLASS:- Mammalia.
ORDER:- Artiodactyla.
SUBORDER:- Whippomorpha.
INFRAORER;- Cetacea.
COMMON NAME: Whales
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cetacea
DIET: Carnivore
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: unknown
SIZE: 9 feet to 98 feet long
WEIGHT: 500 pounds to 200 tons
HTTPS://WWW.STORYTRENDER.COM/107871/STUNNING-PHOTOS-SHOW-HUMPBACK-WHALES-IN-THE-SOUTH-PACIFIC/
THE STUNNING PHOTO SHOWING A HUMPBACK WHALE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN WHALES ARE THE LARGEST ANIMALS ON EARTH, AND THEY LIVE IN EVERY OCEAN.
THE MASSIVE MAMMALS RANGE FROM THE 600-POUND DWARF SPERM WHALE TO
THE COLOSSAL BLUE WHALE, WHICH CAN WEIGH MORE THAN 200 TONS AND STRETCH UP TO 100 FEET LONG—ALMOST AS LONG AS A PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL COURT.
WHALES ARE WARM-BLOODED CREATURES THAT NURSE THEIR YOUNG.
A THICK LAYER OF FAT CALLED BLUBBER INSULATES THEM FROM COLD OCEAN WATERS.
SOME WHALES ARE KNOWN AS BALEEN WHALES, INCLUDING BLUE, RIGHT, BOWHEAD, SEI, AND GRAY WHALES. THIS IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE SPECIAL BRISTLE-LIKE STRUCTURES IN THEIR MOUTHS (CALLED BALEEN) THAT STRAIN FOOD FROM THE WATER. OTHER WHALES, SUCH AS BELUGA OR SPERM WHALES, HAVE TEETH.
Whales are fully aquatic, open ocean creatures and feed, mate, give birth, suckle and raise their young at sea.
Whales range in size from the 2.6 meters (8.5 ft), and 135 kilograms (298 lb) dwarf sperm whale to the 29.9 meters (98 ft) and 190 metric tons (210 short tons) blue whale, which is the largest known creature that has ever lived.
Types of whales
There are two types of whales: toothed and baleen. As the name suggests, toothed whales have teeth, which are used for hunting and eating squid, fish, and seals. Toothed whales include sperm whales, as well as dolphins, porpoises, and orcas, among others. The narwhal’s “horn” is actually one long tooth protruding through its lip.
Baleen whales are larger than toothed whales, for the most part. They include blue whales, humpbacks, right whales, bowhead whales, and others. They feed by straining tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill through the fringed plates of long, fingernail-like material called baleen attached to their upper jaws.
Whale calls
Whales, particularly humpbacks, produce otherworldly vocalizations that can be heard for miles underwater. The songs, complex combinations of moans, howls, and cries that can continue for hours, are produced when whales push air around in their heads, then amplify the sounds through a blob of fat that perches on the top jaw. It’s thought that whales communicate through the calls, which researchers believe can be heard for thousands of miles.
Threats Though the stark population declines from hunting have largely stopped, several whale species are threatened or endangered—including the blue whale, right whale, and fin whale—by a combination of fishing net entanglements and being struck by ships.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Warming oceans and loss of sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic can affect the habitats and food of whales. Large patches of tiny plants and animals that they feed on will likely move or change in abundance as climate change alters seawater temperature, winds, and ocean currents. These changes can mean whales such as humpbacks and blues may have to migrate much further to reach feeding grounds, leaving them less time to forage for food. The shift in food availability due to climate fluctuations has already hurt the reproductive rates of the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Shipping activity and oil and gas development cause noise that can disrupt whale communication or even damage whales' hearing. Such disturbance can exclude whales from critical feeding and breeding grounds and disrupt their migratory paths.
Whales are at the top of the food chain and have an important role in the marine environment's overall health. Whales play a significant role in capturing carbon from the atmosphere; each great whale sequesters an estimated 33 tons of CO2 on average, thus playing their part in the fight against climate change.
Unfortunately, their large size and mythical aura do not protect them; six out of the 13 great whale species are classified as endangered or vulnerable, even after decades of protection. An estimated minimum of 300,000 whales and dolphins are killed each year due to fisheries bycatch, while others succumb to a myriad of threats, including shipping and habitat loss.
TOP 10 FACTS ABOUT WHALES
1. WHALES ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO MAIN GROUPS
The baleen whales and the toothed whales. Baleen whales have fibrous 'baleen' plates in their mouths instead of teeth which help them filter out huge quantities of krill, plankton, and crustaceans. Toothed whales have teeth that enable them to feed on larger prey such as fish and squid.
2. HUMPBACK WHALES DON’T EAT FOR MOST OF THE YEAR
Humpback whales in the Southern Hemisphere live off their fat reserves for 5.5-7.5 months each year as they migrate from their tropical breeding grounds to the Antarctic to feed on krill.
3. ALL TOOTHED WHALES HAVE A ‘MELON’ IN THEIR FOREHEADS
It’s a mass of tissue that focuses the whales’ calls, vital for communication and echolocation. Like bats, they use this echolocation to "see."
4. SOME WHALES BUBBLE NET FEED
This involves whales cooperatively blowing bubbles that encircle their prey. As the prey won't cross through the bubbles, they're trapped, making it easy for the whales to eat them.
5. THERE USED TO BE THOUSANDS OF BLUE WHALES
It's estimated that there were over 225,000 Antarctic blue whales before their exploitation - today, there are less than 3,000.
6. WHALES ARE OFTEN CAUGHT IN NETS
Over 80% of North Atlantic right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once during their lifetime - they often get caught many times in their lives.
7. USUALLY ONLY MALE NARWHALS HAVE A TUSK - THAT DEVELOPS FROM A TOOTH
Used for foraging, displays of dominance, and possibly fighting and breaking the ice, the tusk is also a sensory tool used to detect changes in the sea around them.
8. THE NAME 'NARWHAL' COMES FROM OLD NORSE
It means "corpse whale" as their skin color resembles that of a drowned sailor.
9. THE ANTARCTIC BLUE WHALE IS THE LARGEST ANIMAL ON THE PLANET
They can consume about 3,600kg of krill a day!
10. KILLER WHALES AREN’T ACTUALLY WHALES
Despite being known as 'killer whales, orcas are actually the largest species of dolphin!
THAT IS IT FOR THIS WEEK! HAVE A GOOD ONE!!