Whales: description
Compared to other aquatic mammals, whales breathe through lungs and are warm-blooded animals. In addition, whales feed their offspring with milk, and also boast very thick hair.
Appearance
Whales, like most inhabitants of the seas and oceans, have a spindle-shaped, streamlined body. The fins (fins) are shaped like blades. The tail ends with a fin divided into 2 parts. It is located horizontally. The tail fin serves as both a stabilizer and a motor for the animal. The movement is carried out due to the wave-like movements of the caudal fin.
Interesting to know! Whales, like dolphins, need to occasionally come to the surface of the water to fill their lungs with oxygen. Only one half of their brain can be in a sleep state.
Different cetaceans protect their body surfaces from ultraviolet radiation in different ways.
If we take blue whales, then the level of special pigments in their skin increases, which absorb UV rays very effectively. Sperm whales trigger a special kind of reaction that is similar to the response to the influence of oxygen radicals. Fin whales have learned to use both methods of neutralizing ultraviolet radiation. Living in cold waters, whales maintain their optimal body temperature with a thick layer of fat. The layer is located directly under the skin of a mammal, and serves as an effective protection against hypothermia.
Behavior and lifestyle
Scientists believe that whales are mainly active during the daytime. The cetacean order is characterized by the fact that it can remain under water for a long period of time. Some representatives of this detachment rarely use their unique capabilities, hiding in the water column only in moments of danger.
Despite this, there are also unique underwater swimmers, such as sperm whales. This representative of cetaceans dives without problems to depths of up to 2 thousand meters, or even deeper. The sperm whale is able to stay in the water column for up to an hour and a half without replenishing its lungs with a new portion of fresh air. This became possible due to the fact that the whale has simply huge lungs, and there is an increased level of hemoglobin in its blood. In addition, a high level of myoglobin is concentrated in its muscle tissue. To everything else, it should be added that the sperm whale’s body is little sensitive to an excess of carbon dioxide. Before diving, the whale breathes frequently and deeply to saturate its muscles with oxygen, after which it fills its lungs with clean air.
Whales, despite their impressive size, do not show aggression towards other inhabitants of the underwater world. Their life activity is associated with seasonal migrations, so with the onset of cold weather, whales begin to move to water areas with more comfortable living conditions. Every year they move along the same routes, so the whales know where and why they are swimming. Asian herds of fin whales feed in the Sea of Okhotsk in the summer, and with the onset of cold weather their path lies in the Yellow Sea, to the shores of Japan.
How long do whales live?
The lifespan of this family depends on its variety and size. Small cetaceans live no more than a quarter of a century, but the largest ones can live up to 50 years. The age of a whale can be determined by several signs: by the condition of the female's ovaries, by the baleen plates, by the ear plug or by the teeth.
Amazing facts about whales.
Kola Peninsula
Best places to watch:
water area of the Kola Peninsula, Anikeev and Kildin islands, Barents Sea
Types of whales:
sperm whales, minke whales.
Sometimes - bowhead whales, blue whales, narwhals, bottlenose whales and sei whales. Best season:
May
May is the spawning season for cod in the Barents Sea; first of all, toothed whales - sperm whales and minke whales - come to this feast. Their populations in these waters are quite numerous and the chances of seeing them are very high.
In the open sea you can often find various baleen whales - bowheads, sei whales and even the great blue whale! The previously described narwhals also live in these places, but due to their extreme small numbers, a meeting with these mysterious creatures is quite unlikely and can be considered a great success.
For reference. Animal toothy sperm whale - interesting facts and description
The sperm whale is one of the few representatives of toothed whales and the largest of them. Males reach 20 meters, females - about 15 meters. The sperm whale is easily recognized by its characteristic rectangular head, a significant part of which is made up of a special spongy tissue with a waxy base - spermaceti. Before the development of the chemical industry, candles, creams, ointments and glue were produced from spermaceti, which had the saddest impact on the number of sperm whales.
The sperm whale is a record holder for diving - in search of fish and squid, it easily dives 1–2 km under water, but if necessary, it can go deeper than 3–4 km. In addition, he is the only whale that can dive into the water in a completely vertical position, which is possible thanks to the strong muscles of his caudal fin. At the same time, it is enough for him to surface only once every 30 minutes. During particularly deep dives, the sperm whale can even hold its breath for up to 1.5 hours, drawing oxygen from the muscles and air sac at the nasal passage.
The sperm whale is not dangerous for humans, unless the person himself provokes its aggression by inflicting pain - there are many known cases when sperm whales, in response to the actions of whalers against them and their families, purposefully sank whaling ships and killed hunters who fell overboard. If desired, a sperm whale, by the way, can swallow a person whole, so it is considered a somewhat dangerous animal. With the ban on whaling, there are no known stories of sperm whale attacks on humans.
Sperm whales most often live in large groups - up to several hundred or even thousands of individuals - and live in almost all seas of the globe, but still prefer warmer latitudes. In Russian territorial waters, the most likely place to encounter a sperm whale is the Bering Sea. It is believed that today there are about 300–400 thousand sperm whales living in the waters of the World Ocean.
For reference. Animal big blue whale - interesting facts
The blue whale is the largest animal inhabiting the earth both today and throughout its existence. In the history of the 20th century, researchers and hunters repeatedly encountered gigantic representatives of this species up to 33 meters long. Today, due to the decline in population and food supply, such giants are already an exception, and the average size of a blue whale has decreased slightly, but is still capable of striking: it is about 23–27 meters in length and more than 150 tons of weight.
The blue whale belongs to the group of minke whales, which means, like all of them, it has a number of folds and stripes on the lower surface of the body, which, when swallowing large volumes of water, allow the throat to stretch. Next, excess water is filtered through rows of keratin plates (i.e. the same whalebone), and the caught crustaceans remain. By the way, in total, a blue whale has about 800 keratin plates in its mouth; their length reaches 90–100 cm, and the weight of one plate can reach up to 90 kg.
The exit of the blue whale is accompanied by a fountain of water up to 10 meters high, and it breathes only 1-4 times per minute. If necessary, a blue whale can stay underwater without surfacing for up to 20 minutes.
It is interesting that, unlike many of its relatives, the blue whale boasts almost perfectly smooth and uniform skin - no parasites live on it. Accordingly, through the thickness of the water it really looks blue or light blue, which is why it got its name. It is believed that the reason for the absence of parasites is its high speed of movement from 33 to 48 km/h - no one simply has time to nest on it.
The blue whale's vision, smell and taste are quite weak, but it can produce sounds at a frequency of 8 to 20 Hz with an intensity of 60 to 189 decibels, and hear too. Technical instruments detect such sounds at a distance of up to 1600 km. Perhaps whales can talk to each other at these distances? By the way, the voice of each whale is completely unique - this is how they recognize each other.
Today, according to various estimates, there are only 10,000 to 2,000 blue whales living in the world.
For reference. Sei whale or willow whale - interesting facts
Sei whale is another species of whale from the group of minke whales. Another name for the pollock or willow whale is the pollock fish, which is its favorite food. It has quite modest dimensions compared to its relatives - from 17 to 20 meters, which gives it the ability, if necessary, to reach higher speeds - up to 50 km/h.
What distinguishes it from other whales is that when it emerges to breathe, it practically does not rise above the water, so it is very difficult to notice it from a long distance. This factor largely contributed to the preservation of a more or less large population of sei whales. After the sharp decline in blue whales and fin whales, whalers, of course, began to hunt sei whales too, causing them serious damage, but still today their number is estimated at 57,000 individuals.
The social structure of sei whales has been poorly studied, but it is believed that they tend to form one pair for life.
Types of whales
The order Cetaceans is represented by only two suborders:
- Baleen whales (Mysticeti) . The suborder of baleen whales is characterized by the presence of baleen, as well as the presence of a filter-like layer located on the upper jaw of the mammal. Baleen plays a very important role, as it provides the ruler of the seas and oceans with food, as it participates in the important filtration process. This is important for the whale, since the diet is based on various aquatic plankton. To get it, whales have to pass large volumes of water through themselves. Baleen whales in our time are the largest representatives of the cetacean order.
- Toothed whales (Odontoceti) . The suborder of odontocetes is distinguished by the presence of teeth, which makes their diet significantly different from that of baleen whales. These representatives of cetaceans hunt squid and very large fish, which form the basis of the diet of toothed whales. Another peculiarity of toothed whales is that they master the principles of echolocation. Porpoises and dolphins belong to this suborder of cetaceans.
The suborder of baleen whales consists of 4 families, such as minke whales, gray whales, right whales and pygmy whales. These families include 10 species, such as bowhead, southern, dwarf, gray, humpback, blue whale, fin whale, sei whale, Bryde's whale, and minke whale.
The toothed whale family includes:
- Gangetic dolphin.
- Dolphinaceae.
- Narwhals.
- Sperm whales.
- Anii.
- Dwarf sperm whale.
- Beaked whales.
- Laplatan dolphin.
- Porpoises.
- River dolphin.
The third suborder consisted of ancient whales, which are now considered extinct.
Is a whale a fish or an animal?
Of course, today, thanks to modern knowledge about the structure of cetaceans and their origin, it is no longer difficult to give an exact answer to this question that has tormented man for so long. So, who exactly is he? This is a mammal whose ancestors once upon a time, for certain reasons, returned from land to water. What made them do this - whether it was competition from other animal species, or a sharp decrease in food in their habitat - is not known for certain. However, in the end, they found a new home for themselves there and, having successfully adapted, over time evolved into the form under which we know these creatures today.
Of the land animals currently living on the planet, the closest relatives of cetaceans are hippos, which are indeed similar to them in many respects in behavior and mutual love for water.
Whale habitat
Sperm whales today are characterized by the most extensive habitat, since they are found throughout the entire waters of the World Ocean, while they are not found in the coldest waters. The dwarf sperm whale is found in the warmest or moderately warm waters of the World Ocean.
Baleen whales inhabit the waters of various oceans, and bowhead whales live exclusively in Arctic latitudes. Bryde's minke lives in the warm zone of the World Ocean, and dwarf whales are inhabitants of cold and temperate waters of the southern hemisphere.
What do whales eat?
The diet of cetaceans is based on various food components, depending on habitat conditions and time of year. In addition, each subspecies has its own gastronomic preferences. Bowhead whales, which are planktivores, feed in the upper layers of open waters, where they catch zooplankton in the form of small crustaceans and pteropods. Gray whales, which are benthophagous whales, feed at shallow depths, and ichthyophagous whales prey on small schooling fish. Minke whales prefer a mixed diet, so their diet includes all kinds of crustaceans and fish. Sperm whales, beaked whales and gray dolphins, which are teutophagous, feed exclusively on cephalopods.
The seasonal nature of cetacean feeding allows them to gain fat. This is typical for the end of autumn, therefore during the winter period they spend part of their fatness and by the spring they have the least weight. When whales reproduce, some species do not eat food at all.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A WHALE EATS. This huge whale shocked everyone when it swallowed a man
External characteristics of the cetacean family
Today, more than eighty species of cetaceans are known, all of them are distinguished by their enormous size, with the exception of dwarf whales, whose average height is five meters and their weight ranges from three to four tons.
Unlike fish, due to their thick layer of fat, whales are warm-blooded animals that can maintain a constant temperature regardless of environmental conditions.
Whales do not have gills - they breathe exclusively with their lungs. Due to ninety percent air exchange, different species of cetaceans can hold their breath from ten to forty minutes, and a breath of air lasts for a sperm whale for an hour and a half.
In the photo you can see a huge column of condensation created when air is exhaled from the whale's blowhole. Condensation is formed due to the fact that the exhaust air is much warmer than the surrounding environment.
The visual system of whales is poorly developed. In giant species, the eyeball weighs only one kilogram, and in dwarfs the eye size is comparable to a dog.
Due to the fact that whales' eyes are located at the edges, they do not have binocular vision. In order to see prey, they have to deftly turn around to notice food with peripheral vision.
Note!
Animals of the Red Book of Russia: complete list of animals, photo, name, description
- A Guide to Fish Oil and Omega-3
Koala: photo, lifestyle, habitat, habits, character, types, interesting facts
Reproduction and offspring
Almost all whale species reproduce in warmer waters. Despite the fact that some species prefer to live in colder conditions, they migrate and their reproduction process occurs in the winter, in warmer climates.
Interesting moment! Baby whales are not only impressive in size, but also fully formed, ready to live in the water column. This is due to the fact that such aquatic animals do not have pelvic bones as such, so there are no restrictions on the maximum size of the fetus.
Female whales carry their offspring for 9 to 16 months, depending on the species. As a rule, only one whale emerges into the light, tail first. After birth, the calf floats to the surface of the water, where it takes its first breath. The offspring quickly adapt to new living conditions, demonstrating confidence and swimming skills. They try to stay close to their mother, which greatly facilitates the process of moving and also serves as protection from natural enemies.
The newly born offspring feed quite often, sucking on the mother's nipple almost every 15 minutes. It should be noted that the baby whales do not have to strain particularly hard to get a portion of milk, since it is itself injected into the cubs’ mouths, due to the contraction of special muscles. Depending on the size of the mammal, the amount of milk can vary and its volume can range from 200 ml to 200 liters.
Cetacean milk is quite thick, creamy in color and almost 10 times more nutritious than regular cow's milk. Thanks to its special properties, this milk does not spread in water. The mother feeds her cubs with milk for 4 months or almost a whole year. Often she stops feeding the baby milk because she is pregnant again.
Whales have a well-developed sense of parental instinct, so whales never leave their young in danger. If at low tide a baby whale suddenly finds itself in shallow water, the female will always wait until high tide to pick up her baby and take him to a safe place. Adult whales always bravely rushed towards the calves that were hit by the whalers' harpoons, trying to pull them away from the ship. Man took advantage of such boundless devotion of whales and thus lured adult individuals.
It is important to know! Beluga whales are easy to train, so they can be seen in various dolphinariums and circuses. The babies of these whales are the most highly valued.
Whales are characterized by the fact that they are very touching not only towards their own young, but also towards the young of their relatives. Almost all representatives of the cetacean order will never leave their wounded or sick brothers in trouble, trying to help them.
A whale that is too weak, if it does not have the strength to rise to the surface of the water to take a breath of air, is helped by healthier relatives. They surround the weak whale and help it rise to the surface. After that, they support it until the whale takes in enough air.
What class does it belong to?
The whale belongs to the class of mammals, moreover placentals, to the group of higher animals. Female whales carry their babies inside their bodies, give birth, and nurse them with milk. Higher animals are the main group of mammals. There are 3 of them in total, representatives of the other two live in Australia (oviparous and marsupials).
The closest relatives of whales on land are large artiodactyl animals, and the closest are hippopotamuses.
Whales, unlike fish, are warm-blooded, that is, they have a constant body temperature. A thick layer of subcutaneous fat helps maintain it at a level of 36-39 degrees. Whales do not have gills and breathe through lungs.
Powerful muscles make effective air exchange possible. This means that the animal is able to hold its breath for a long time under water, and then with one breath, renew the air in the lungs by 90%. The air exhaled with trumpet sounds under high pressure forms characteristic fountains.
Yandex pictures
Natural enemies of whales
Active cetacean fishing is considered the main factor that influences whale mortality. Despite this, cetaceans suffer from various severe parasitic infestations. Quite often, animals suffer from skin ailments, including ulcers, fungal infections, and malignant neoplasms in the form of acne. There are frequent cases of skeletal damage, in the form of severe bone tumors, as well as complex bone growths.
The problems of large marine inhabitants do not end there, since jaw distortions are possible, as well as dental problems, muscle problems, tumors and abscesses of the lungs, purulent pneumonia, cirrhosis of the liver, gastric ulcers, stones in the ureters, and contact infectious diseases.
Quite often, small species of whales, as well as dolphins, die in fights with killer whales. All sorts of parasites, such as trematodes, cestodes and nematodes, cause great damage to the overall number of whales. Barnacles, as well as whale lice, are considered the most common ectoparasites of the order Cetaceans.
Population and species status
It should be noted that the populations of the cetacean order are declining from year to year, and at a tremendous rate. Many factors contributed to this, such as significant changes in habitat with significant degradation, as well as thoughtless fishing just for the sake of extracting whale oil or whalebone. Today, Gangetic dolphins are so small in number that they are listed in the International Red Book under the status of “Endangered Species”. The total number of Pacific gray whales is only a few hundred individuals, with only two dozen females. February 19 is considered World Whale Day, as on this day in 1986, all commercial whale hunting activities were banned.
Therefore, in our time, any hunting of many species of whales that are on the verge of extinction is prohibited. Such marine inhabitants include the blue whale, bowhead whale, gray and humpback whale. They have suffered quite seriously due to mindless harvesting for fat.
The Red Book of Russia includes such species of whales as the small killer whale, 3 species of dolphins, the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin, the porpoise, the narwhal, as well as many species of the cetacean order. In fact, listing many animals in the Red Books does not in any way guarantee their protection from complete extinction.
Whales and man
Man began to hunt whales the moment he learned to use various watercraft. When catching whales, people obtained a lot of fat, a lot of bones and highly valuable whalebone. Such hunting continues today, despite existing prohibitions. Lard and fat are used to make margarine, glycerin and soap, and whale bones are used to make all kinds of jewelry, corsets, dishes, figurines and other crafts, which are highly valued among tourists.
Naturally, whale meat is also used. Various dishes are prepared from it, as well as sausages, sausages, cutlets, pates and jellied meat. Various healthy and tasty canned foods are also prepared from whale meat.
Important point! Many countries have significantly limited the harvest of whales, not only for industrial purposes, but also for the needs of research centers, including the needs of indigenous peoples.
This Man Was Swallowed by a Whale, But What Happened Next Amazed Everyone
