Analysis Of Humpback 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.

Whales have a different part of the brain than we do to process emotions. So we never know

“… building a tank the size of Rhode Island wouldn’t be large enough for a six-ton male killer whale such as Tilikum, an animal capable of swimming 100 miles a day,” states an anonymous whale expert. Whales have been in captivity since 1861 when P.T. Barnum displayed the first live whale that was captured in Canada. However, Barnum had no idea how to care for the mammal and it died after only a week in captivity. (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2014) Being up close with killer whales could give us some clues about how they interact with each other, including physical behavior, their dialect, and how their pods work together as a family unit. However, what we are finding is that whales who belong in the wild are suffering in

Whales in captivity suffer through a great amount of emotional abuse . In captivity, Children can be separated from their mothers, and whales that are taken from the wild are separated from their families ,which can consist of up to 40 members (National Geographic). Whales are very family oriented and each pod of whales has their own dialect when communicating. Whales are social creatures and by depriving them of social activity and their families, they become depressed and

Observations made by Coscarella et al. (2015) show the Killer Whale swimming alongside a dolphin and hitting the dolphin in its head in order to knock the dolphin unconscious. Coscarella et al. (2015) also spotted these Killer Whales socializing, lobtailing, slapping, and recorded breaching behaviors. Coordinated hunting behavior was seen as the Killer Whales would herd the dolphin towards an individual whale that would catch the prey, this supports a belief that sharing prey is common because this has been seen before (Coscarella et al., 2015). Social relationships are maintained when the Killer Whales share their prey (Coscarella et al., 2015).

On Saturday May 20th a confused Humpback whale gets stuck in the Ventura Harbor in California. The Coast Guard attempted to guide the Whale in various ways. The First way was to lure it with food but it did not take the bait. The next way was to emit sounds in the ocean to also lure it out but again it did not. Officials said they were worried about all the boats in the harbor being damaged because of the whale.

The earliest whales were land animals with long skulls and carnivorous teeth. Analysis of whale skulls showed major morphological changes, including changes to the skull size, shape, teeth, and nostrils. Fossil evidence shows that the trait of interest, the nostrils, can be found on fossils of the earliest whales, dating back to about 50 million years ago. Evolution occurred multiple times since then, each time resulting in the nostrils migrating further back on the skull. Eventually, the pair of nostrils positioned itself right on top of the head. These nostrils are the blowholes we see positioned on top of modern whales today. In addition, another momentous change in the nostrils occur when order Cetacea splits into Mysticetes and Odontocetes. Suborder Mysticetes

Male killer whales typically live up to 30 years in the wild but can live for as long as 60 years. Female killer whales typically live up to 50 years but they can live as long as 100 years (“Killers”). In captivity, only a few out of the more than 200 whales that have been either captured in the wild or bred at the marine parks have lived beyond 40 years (Rose). Female killer whales become sexually active between 6-10 years of age and males between 10-13 years of age. Female killer whales in the wild are thought to breed every three to five years and nurse their calves for the first one to two years. The gestation period for the pregnancy is seventeen months (“Welcome”). Killer whales are very social animals and are commonly found in pods of as few as 3 to more than 25 animals including at least one large male. Killer whales typically stay in their pods for their entire lives. Various pods of killer whales have been observed mixing with other pods either for social interactions or mating (“Killer”). They communicate through a series of whistle and clicks, which can be modulated by pitch and multiple harmonics. Pulsed calls are the most common form of vocalization that resembles squeaks, screams, and squawks to the human ear (“Killer”). Killer whales are actually pack hunters, like wolves, coordinating their attack and herding their prey into a small area. They are called killer whales due to the fact that

In terms of social structure, baleen whales are known to be quite solitary in nature often traveling alone or in small groups.Communication among baleen whales involves loud low-pitched moans and whines, and physical gestures such as spy hopping, lob tailing, breaching and charging.

In addition, many pods of whales, both resident and transient ones around the world, have a distinct repertoire of calls; certain pods that have similarity in these calls are grouped together as clans (Ford, 1991). When pods within clans share most of the same calls, but also have a few different one, the pods are said to have different dialects and are referred to as subclans (Ford, 1991). These repertoires are suspected to be specific to the matrilineal line, but are thought to be learned behaviours rather than genetically inherited (Ford, 1991). This is due to the fact that even when pods from different clans travel together, their communication remains independent (Ford, 1991). The types of calls vary with the type of activity that the whale undergoes, as well as the social setting (Ford, 1989). In British Columbia, studies have shown that whale pods have 7-17 discrete call types, whereas in Alaska there were 3-16 discrete call types (Ford, 1991; Strager, 1994). In one study on Alaskan killer whales, six of the nine pods studied exhibited unique repertories, indicating that killer whales were capable of having vocal traditions (Strager, 1994). These calls may also be unique due to geography differences, as calls recorded in different parts of the world showed overlap; either meaning that these calls were formed independently, there are certain calls

Orca whales display a wide range of intricate behaviors that indicate a high level of social intelligence (Anderson 1). In the article, Orca Behavior and Subsequent Aggression Associated with Oceanarium Confinement, the authors state, “We observed in the animals what appeared to be pranks, tests of trust, limited use of tactical deception, emotional self-control, and empathetic behaviors” (Anderson 1). This suggests the orcas have human-like tendencies and that they are very bright. These creatures are friendly, naturally happy, understanding, and relatedly seeking companionship (Wise 937). The orca’s brain has an additional part, the para-limbic cleft, that humans do not have; this suggests that whales have a sense of self and have a sense of social

The Northern Right Whale has been an endangered species since the late 1800s, with little signs of ever recovering. The whale is also known as Eubalaena Glacialis “True Whale”; it weighs 200 tons and is 42-62 feet long. It lives in the coastal water of Sweden, Greenland, Canada and the east coast of the United States. Organizations like World Wildlife Fund or WWF have made efforts to stop whaling and try to help the species recover. But with only 300-400 left in the population the Northern Right Whale is going to need a miracle.

I picked the killer Whale, also known as Orcas for this assignment. Orcas are cultural creatures. Scientist have observed three main groups of Orcas evenly distributed throughout the ocean. The three groups have vastly different diets, languages, hunting techniques and manners of behaving around other marine life. The groups do not seem to interact much with one another. Orcas pass down specific behavior thought to each other from generation to generation. Orcas often hunt in groups and orchestrate their strategies perfectly with each group member having specific tasks.

The dwarf minke whale may be the whale we know the least about of all. These friendly creatures appear every winter for a few months on the outer edges of the Great Barrier Reef. “We know everything there is to know about their habits except where they are the rest of the year and what they are doing while they are there” (Smathers 458). Perhaps because the adults are only about 25 feet long, they are not nearly as famous as blue whales or humpbacks. According to Robert Jones, dwarf minke researchers have a hard time getting donations to cover their expenses (33-35). Felicia Smart wonders if it would be different of they had songs like the humpbacks(volume

Randall Wells and his team observed groups of male dolphin behavior in Sarasota Bay, Florida.