Beluga Whales Research Paper

The evolutionary path of a whale is a fascinating process of a terrestrial mammal that evolves into a marine mammal. This evolutionary path started with one of the earliest ancestors called “Pakicetus”. A Pakicetus was discovered to be a land animal with four legs that had teeth as carnivores. It skull structure was long, but this organism didn’t look like any marine animal. The scientist then discovered that on the skull’s ear region it was surrounded by a bony wall. This feature on an organism only was distinct from one type of species, scientist discovered that this animal “Pakicetus” was an ancestor of a whale. By comparing the early whales Pakicetus to the next generation of ancestors Ambulocetus, the Ambulocetus whale looks more like

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.

Length and Weight: The average length of a blue whale is 75 - 80 feet (23 - 24 meters) and these long marine mammals can weigh up to 200,000 pounds (90,000 kg). Whales in the southern hemisphere are generally larger than those in the northern hemisphere. One whale captured in the southern hemisphere measured 110 feet (33 meters) in length. Females are usually larger than males of the same age. Fins: A small triangular-shaped dorsal fin is located on the blue whale's back. This fin measures only one foot in height. The shape and size of the dorsal fin can be very different for each whale. The whale's flippers are short and the tail is broad and triangular in shape. During the summer feeding period, a blue whale eats about 40 million krill each day, amounting to about 3,600 kg (7,900 pounds). During the other 8 months of the year, it lives of stored fat not eating anything.The blue whale feeds by using its long flexible throat grooves to expand its throat and draws in water laden with the prey, then forces the water out through its baleen plates. The whale then swallows after the baleen plates filter out the prey organisms (most likely

The Blue Whale’s heart is the size of Volkswagen Beetle and the arteries are big enough for a baby to crawl through, they are 9 inches in diameter. The Blue Whales cruise the ocean at more than 5 miles per hour, although when agitated they can reach speeds of 20 miles per hour. Blue Whales communicate and and navigate the oceans by a series of pulses, moans, and groans. Blue Whales can hear much lower frequencies than us and their senses, such as hearing, is adapted to living in an ocean environment. Blue Whales can hear each other up to 1,000 miles away. This is equal to the distance between Memphis, Tennessee to Miami, Florida. The oldest Blue Whale found was 110 years old, only 12 years younger than the oldest person to ever live, Jeanne Calment (122 years old.) Female Blue Whales are larger than male Blue Whales by about 4 feet. Blue Whales are the loudest animals on Earth, their calls are louder than a jet engine. Blue Whales use sound to find their way through oceans, detect food, and communicate with one

There is no doubt that humans have always been intrigued with the majestic beauty of the large giants found in all of the world’s oceans. Whales and people have had a long history together, marked by many turns of events.

The dorsal fin is triangular, and has been know to grow in excess of 6 feet in length on males, but grow no more than 3 feet on females. (Martin) The pectoral fins of the orca can measure up to one sixth of it’s body length and is in the shape of a paddle. The orca usually have 40-50 conical teeth which measure over 2 inches in length, and has a perfect fit with the opposite set which makes it an excellent hunter. Although the teeth are robust, they do a lot of work through the years because older orcas have been known to have teeth worn down to the gum tissue (Haley.) The tongue of a killer whale has been known to weigh in excess of 2 tons (Martin.) They have been known to be fearless hunter, and a fast predator. Some say the ferocity of the killer whale exceeds that of the great white shark, which makes it one of the most feared in ocean life.

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

They prefer tropical to temperate waters that are deeper than 3,300 feet (1000m) and occur in the U.S. in Hawaii, along the entire West Coast, and from the Mid-Atlantic coastal states south. The species can also be found in all tropical and temperate oceans worldwide.[4] The young false killer whale in Vancouver Aquarium “Chester” was rescued by the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Rescue Team with help from local residents and Fisheries and Ocean Canada (DFO) after standing as a month-old calf on Chesterman Beach in Tofino in July 2014.

In captivity, they have very little space and cannot behave naturally. Instead, Captive whales have been trained to learn tricks and entertain the public for food as a reward (“Whales and Dolphins in Captivity”). I chose the research question, because I want to learn more about captive Orca Whales and I believe that all living things should be able to live freely in their natural habitat and not have to worry about being stripped from their families and their homes. I already knew that Killer Whales were at risk and that the

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.

Even though they may be small-scale , they are the most vocal whale you can find. Their vocalization patterns include clicks, whistles, chirps and bleats. These beautiful creatures are known to inhabit the arctic and subarctic waters of Russia or Alaska. Even though Belugas are known for their white color, they are actually born grey. The transformation to the white color they are known for can take years.

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).

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