Toothed Whales

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.

In nature, whales act much differently than when held in captivity. They are very family oriented creatures. They travel in groups that can range anywhere from 10 to 40 whales, these groups are called “pods” and are very similar to wolf packs . The whales hunt cooperatively together and teach each other and take care of their young. The mothers in the pods lead to entire group of whales and teach younger whales how to hunt, feed, parent, etc. Female whales usually give birth about every 3 to 10 years, and after they give birth they watch over their young for the rest of their lives. Female whales (like humans) go through a

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.

While many people have experienced the majestic showcasing of trained orcas in public displays at recreational parks such as SeaWorld, few have heard of the tragic events that these killer whales go through while in captivity. It is ironic that such family oriented companies like SeaWorld, who pride themselves in giving families experiences that they will never forget, can just tear families of killer whales apart and abuse them while training them. And although these public displays of trained orcas seem extraordinary through the audience’s eyes, it is time that the untold stories of these whales and the true dangers of training whales comes out into light.

Killer whales, Orcinus orca, are mammals, that are part of the Cetacea order, the Odontoceti suborder and the Delphinidae family (Ketten, 1997). They evolved from land creatures, requiring a multitude of adaptations so that the transition to water was successful. They live in all oceans, but are most commonly found in cool, temperate waters (Strager, 1994).

Killer whales were not considered a threat to humans until one day in February 1991. Keltie Byrne, a marine biology and former killer whale trainer was killed by Tilikum. According to the reports, she slipped from the tank, where Tilikum was located, prevented her from surfacing and killed her. Sadly, another tragedy of a trainer who was killed by someone she knows

After reading the three versions of “Whales”, the third version is the strongest. Its thesis statement is the second sentence of the paper: “Scientists studying whales rate their intelligence on a level with higher primates because of their complex group behavior.” The writer also clearly voices their opinion within the piece. The attitude and tone in “Whales” is a perfected mix of professionalism and personal stance, a balance between fact and opinion. The intended audience may be high schoolers in a classroom because of the paper’s writing style. The language and the rhythm of the piece give it strength. Yet there are weaknesses as well. Some ideas I have to revise it so that it is better includes adding more detail to the fast facts and

"Killer Whales: Gentle Giants, or Viscous Killers?" Killer whales are an important subject of mythology for many indigenous peoples, especially the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. The whales have not been hunted extensively by humans, although they have been hunted by some shore whaling operations, and some individuals have been taken as aquarium show animals from the waters around the Pacific Northwest and Iceland. Killer whales are perceived by many near-shore fishermen to be in competition with human fishing activity (Anheiser Busch 1). The killer whale, or Orcinus orca can be found worldwide in all seas from both tropics to Arctic and Antarctic oceans. They are one of the most well known whales because of the captivity of Shamu

I can hear the sound of a 38 special, pistol, going off. It sounds like the great Josey Whales. Josey Whales and I are similar in numerous ways. We both enjoy being in the wonderful outdoors. The outlaw of Josey Whales is probably my favorite old western movie ever. We both are good with a gun. I think if Josey and I teamed up, nobody would be able to stop us. We both are good to people. That is my favorite thing about Josey. As can be seen, Josey and I are similar in many ways.

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

Imagine being separated from your parents at a young age, taken only to spend the rest of your life in a confined environment, forced against your natural living circumstances. This is the life of the Orca whales (also known as Killer whales) at Sea World, an amusement park located in multiple places around the nation. Sea World performs shows incorporating animals, such as seals and whales to do tricks for amusement. However, recent research and media shows that Sea World lacks appropriate care for the whales they hold captive. They also have been said to hunt for their whales, but hunting of these animals threaten their growth, natural living conditions and their global population. One might say that the park is like a prison to these creatures, however those in prison make the choice to be put there. The whales are not allowed the freedom when held in captivity, so Sea World should be shut down due to its responsibility for the life threatening circumstances of the Orca Whales.

Two fossils that were newly discovered in Italy and Japan suggest that a southern whale was once an animal of the Northern waters more than half a million years ago.

“Nature did not put whales on this earth to splash kid while stuck in a pen” (Velez-Mitchell, n.d) this magnificent quote shows us that all around the world millions of aquariums use whales as an entertainment object, and people only see the stereotype that the show wants to transmit, but whales are really much more than that. On most aquariums whales are just allowed to act under the trainer’s orders, so that way killer whales are seen as “cute” by the public. Behind all this cute behavior there always a reason, like for example the whales broken teeth are because of the million times they fight with each other with sexual or game intensions, try to chew the glass is also something that whales in captivity do and that’s not normal on free whales, sometimes whales are seen as aggressive but that’s not their fault, mostly they are trying to play because of boredom or a lot of repressed energy that they don’t use.

Have you ever thought about the landlords of the oceans? There is a saying: "Big fish eats the smaller ones." The most powerful and deadly animals who taste the freedom of the sea world are whales. So many kinds of whales exist. One of the most interesting kinds is the bottle-nosed whale. It is no wonder why they are given this name. Their bulbous forehead and elongated snout give them a unique character. Besides these unique physical characteristics, they have other special qualities as well including their rarity and their enormous size. Northern species and southern species are the two types of bottle-nosed whales that are categorized by the difference in their size, living habitats and mating seasons.