Whales are the biggest mammals of the sea. Their enormous weight and their lives are fascinating for many people. Many surveys and studies have carried out to learn how these huge sea animals lead their lives. Whales are those animals whose size varies from a few feet long to hundred feet long and they include all the cetaceans which include a diverse group of animals.
1. Whales are mammals
Whales are warm-blooded mammals. Their body temperature is about the same as humans’ even though they live in cold water most of time, they breather air too. They give birth to their young and nurse them. They also have hair on their body. In short, they are like all other mammals.
2. Species
There are 86 known whales up till now. They include the tiny hector’s dolphin which is 39 inches long to the gigantic blue whale, the biggest animal found on earth.
3. Groups of whales
There are two groups of whales, the teethed ones and the one who feed by using a filtering system called baleen. About a dozen whales use baleen while all others have teeth. But these teeth are not like our teeth. They are cone or spade shaped, used to catch prey only.
4. Biggest animals
The blue whale and fin whale are the world’s largest mammals. Blue whale grows up to 100 feet while fin whale grown up to 88 feet long. But they eat small schooling fish and some other small sea animals.
5. Half-brain asleep
Whales, when sleep; keep half of their brain awake. This is because they cannot breathe if their brain sleeps completely. To alert them for any danger and to ensure the breathing, whales put half of their brain at sleep.
6. Hearing
The excellent sense the whales have in their hearing power. In the deep waters where sun light cannot reach or visibility is too variable, whales use their hearing power. Teethed whales use echolocation to find out their prey while baleen whales use some sounds to create “map”.
7. Long life
The bow head whale is the one, which lives for over 200 years of age. Whales are aged either by examining their ear plugs or teeth for growth layers. The other method is to look for growth layer in the lens of the eyes of the whales.
8. One calf at a time
Whales give birth to only one calf at a time. The baby drinks up to 100 gallons of milk in one day. And baby whales need to be protected from predators. This is the reason whales give birth to only one calf.
9. Whale hunting
Despite of the international ban on hunting for purposes other than research, whales are still hunted. They have a greater threat from ship strikes.
10. Whale watching
Whales can be watched both from air and land. From land they are seen during their migration to other places. While from air they are seen in the deep ocean.