Zoom Whales ALL ABOUT WHALES! |
What is a Whale? | Whale Information Sheets | Simple Whale Print-outs | Extreme Whales | Whale Myths | Whale Evolution |
Whales are large, magnificent, intelligent, aquatic mammals. They breathe air through blowhole(s) into lungs (unlike fish who breathe using gills). Whales have sleek, streamlined bodies that move easily through the water. They are the only mammals, other than manatees (seacows), that live their entire lives in the water, and the only mammals that have adapted to life in the open oceans. |
Whales breathe air. They are NOT fish. They are mammals that spend their entire lives in the water. |
Cetaceans are the group of mammals that includes the whales, dolphins, and porpoises. |
Like all mammals:
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The biggest whale is the blue whale, which grows to be about 94 feet (29 m) long - the height of a 9-story building. These enormous animals eat about 4 tons of tiny krill each day, obtained by filter feeding through baleen. Adult blue whales have no predators except man. The smallest whale is the dwarf sperm whale which as an adult is only 8.5 feet (2.6 m) long. |
The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever existed on Earth. It is larger than any of the dinosaurs were. They are also the loudest animal on Earth. |
Toothed whales (Odontoceti) - predators that use their peg-like teeth to catch fish, squid, and marine mammals, swallowing them whole. They have one blowhole (nostril) and use echolocation to hunt. There are about 66 species of toothed whales. |
Baleen whales (Mysticeti) - predators that sieve tiny crustaceans, small fish, and other tiny organisms from the water with baleen. Baleen is a comb-like structure that filters the baleen whales' food from the water. Baleen whales are larger than the toothed whales and have 2 blowholes (nostrils). There are 10 species of baleen whales. |
Whales have a streamlined shape and almost no hair as adults (it would cause drag while swimming). Killer whales and Shortfin Pilot whales are the fastest, swimming up to 30 miles per hour (48 kph). |
Whales swim by moving their muscular tail (flukes) up and down. Fish swim by moving their tails left and right. |
Many ceteaceans, especially baleen whales, migrate over very long distances each year. They travel, sometimes in groups (pods), from cold-water feeding grounds to warm-water breeding grounds. |
Gray whales make the longest seasonal migration of any of the whales. They travel about 12,500 miles each year. |
Cetaceans give birth to live young which are nourished with milk from their mothers - they don't lay eggs. Cetaceans breed seasonally, usually in warm tropical waters, and females usually have one calf every 1-3 years. The gestation times range from 9-18 months. Whale calves can swim at or soon after birth. Mother whales care for their young for an extended period of time, usually at least a year, feeding them milk and protecting them. |
Young cetaceans are frequently mottled in color, camouflaging them from predators. Newborns have a sparse covering of hair which they lose as adults. |
Zoom Whales ALL ABOUT WHALES! |
What is a Whale? | Whale Information Sheets | Simple Whale Print-outs | Extreme Whales | Whale Myths | Whale Evolution |
(and other cetaceans) |
BELUGA WHALE BLUE WHALE BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN BOWHEAD WHALE GRAY WHALE HUMPBACK WHALE |
KILLER WHALE MINKE WHALE NARWHAL ORCA RIGHT WHALES SPERM WHALE |
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