An Explanation Of Baleen Whales

The origin of modern day whales, a mystery that has puzzled paleontologists for years, may have just been solved with the discovery of an ankle bone. This discovery might sound simple and unimportant, but the bones of these ancient animals hold many unanswered questions and provide solid proof of origin and behavior. The relationship between whales and other animals has proven to be difficult because whales are warm-blooded, like humans, yet they live in the sea. The fact that they are warm-blooded suggests that they are related to some type of land animal. However, the questions of exactly which animal, and how whales evolved from land to water, have remained unanswered until now.

Do you know what the biggest animal ever to live on Earth is? You would be wrong if you speculated a dinosaur, elephant, or giraffe. You may be surprised to find out that the biggest animal ever to live on Earth is the Blue Whale and it is still alive today. The Blue Whale weighs as much as 33 elephants and consumes about 4 tons of food a day. I bet if you knew of an animal that was as long as 3 school buses you would want to keep this animal in the world forever. Although, the Blue Whale may not stay for long, many things affect the blue whale’s inhabitance, mainly the acts of humans have caused the Blue Whale’s to become endangered. Though, if you know the information about them you can help.

The largest member of the dolphin family is the killer whale, the killer whale is often referred to as an orca. Killer whales are important to biology because they are essential to the oceanic ecosystem. They keep the food chain intake balanced by regulating certain marine mammals, and that helps other animals to not become overpopulated. Killer whales are also important because they help the economy due to whale watching. Killer whales help science by helping scientist understand echolocation which helps them learn more about marine species and how to protect ocean animals from other noises. Killer whales have been kept captive for over 51 years. Killer whales being held captive generate a large profit for companies, while the killer whales live in a shallow concrete tank compared to their free-ranging lives in the wild. Trainers dying, whales dying, and numerous injuries documented on both trainers and whales provide why whales should not be kept in captivity.

Whales are large aquatic mammals. Like every other animal they did not start off like that. Whales came to be after millions of years of evolution. Every aspect of the current whale was decided by nature. The blowhole, dorsal fins, lack of teeth and tail fluke all came from years of other creatures such as the Mesonychids and many other animals.

Of course, no whale is more important than the other. However, the Humpback Whale is the most marvelous creature of all of them. A typical Humpback Whale is 40 tons, and grows up to 40 to 60 feet long. It is known as the fifth largest whale in the world. Humpbacks are known as omnivores. This means that they eat fish and plants in the ocean. The worldwide population of a Humpback is at least 80,000 whales in all. They are known to be migrants just like other baleen whales. Unfortunately, these innocent Humpbacks are currently endangered. Many of them are endangered, because whale hunters kill them for the supply of oil and baleen. Humpbacks are compelling mammals because they have a detailed body, odd habits, a diverse diet, and a vast habitat.

In the mouth of a Baleen whale, hard plates of keratin grow down from the gums of the upper jaw. Keratin is the same protein our fingernails are made of. These plates are called baleen. They grow in rows on each side of the whale’s mouth.

A blue whale is the largest animal on Earth. It weighs about 220,000 to 352,000 pounds. A blue whale is 82.5 to 100 feet tall. A human and killer whale pods eat the blue whale. It lives for 35 to 45 years long. A blue whales heart is the same size as a small car. Blue Whale calves drinky 90 kilograms of milk everyday.

In eastern Canada we can find northern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon ampullatus, which is one of the two species of whale’s genera Hyperoodon. Nowadays, it is the largest member of the family of Ziphiidae, also known as beaked whale family. Its genera name comes from the Greek language: hyperoe which means “the upper mouth or palate” and odontos means “tooth”. However, ampullatus derivates from Latin which means “flask or bottle” so, its scientific name refers to its head shape.

Whales do not have our names on, so what makes people think it is acceptable to eat them, sell them and use their skin for our pleasure. Whales belong to the order cetacea, this includes porpoises, dolphins and whales. Whales are split into two different types being baleen and toothed whales. Baleen are the largest species of whale. With whales being the largest animals on planet, killing them is not an easy task with this making many people more encouraged to kill.

Whales are mammals of the open ocean that socialize and travel in groups called “pods.” They communicate and socialize with each other through various types of languages. My goal is to explain communication between whales by giving you an overview of; noises that whales make to communicate and socialize with each other, non-verbal cues between whales, and a distinct sound that allows them to see. Whales rely on sounds to determine the needs for their survival.

Beluga whales, known for their white color, are one of the most popular species of whale as well as one of the most threatened. These relatively small whales, only about 14 feet long, are prey for polar bears, killer whales, and humans who hunt them for blubber and skin. White whales are very unique from other whales in that they have flexible necks to allow them to move their head in all directions, no dorsal fin, and are the only whales with all white skin. Aquariums and organizations all over the world have made in effort in protecting these playful whales. Some of the efforts being made include retreiving injured whales and nursing them back to health, breeding belugas in captivity to be released, and housing belugas deemed unfit to return

Cetaceans are divide into two groups the toothed and baleen whales. As their name suggests, toothed whales or odontocetes have teeth. They also have one opening at their blowhole. There are over 73 species of toothed whales, including sperm and beaked whales, belugas and narwhals, porpoises and dolphins, and even fresh water dolphins that live in rivers. They range in size from the 60-foot (21.1 m) sperm whale to the 5-foot (1.5 m) vaquita. Some toothed whales are quite unusual. For instance, the beaked whales spend most of their time in the deep water and, therefore, are rarely encountered by people, and new species are still being discovered! Some beaked whales are odd looking and often only the males will have teeth. The straptoothed whales

The size of a sperm whale is longer than a bus. The sperm whale has the biggest animal brain and it weighs 20 pounds. The giant can swim about 23 MPH. It can hold it breath for about 90 minutes. The lower jaw has 36-50 teeth the top is toothless. Sperm whales migrate. Calves are born tail first and take their first breath within seconds of being born. They learn to swim in 30 minutes. Their teeth are 10 inches long and weigh about 2 pounds each. The best news of all is that sperm whales appear to be thriving in our oceans

Whales are largely known as the most elegant of the massive sea creatures in the ocean with Blue Whale being the largest of all whales. People all over the world spend large amounts of money to travel on boats and watch these ocean giants fly through the water. Most people don't realize that whales were not always like this. In fact, they were very different from the enormous mammals we experience today.

The blue whales are found in all waters worldwide. They are found in both polar and tropical waters worldwide. The blue whale eats small fish due to the fact they don’t have teeth. One fact that is very interesting is that their heart is around the same size as a small car. Also they can hold their breath as much as air can fit in 2,000 balloons. Right now they are very populated by around 20,000 but numbers will be growing over time. But at one time they were in danger because people were hunting them. Their skin is smooth and it helps them get faster threw the water to sometimes catch food or run away from those who want to eat them.