Whale - description, species, where it lives, what it eats, names, photos. See what "whales" are in other dictionaries
Finwal
Gray whale
All cetaceans except guinea pigs and dolphins.
Study history[ | ]
Origin and species[ | ]
Cetaceans, in particular whales, are the largest among animals - the blue whale (blue whale) in adulthood reaches an average body length of 25 m (the largest 33 m), and the mass is 90-120 tons. All cetaceans, including whales, dolphins and porpoises are descendants of land mammals of the artiodactyl order. According to molecular genetic data, both cetaceans and artiodactyls belong to the clade of cetaceans, which includes whales, hippos, and all artiodactyls. Moreover, according to these data, hippos are among the closest living relatives of whales; they came from a common ancestor who lived about 54 million years ago. Whales switched to an aquatic lifestyle some 50 million years ago. Cetaceans are divided into three suborders:
Anatomy [ | ]
Young whale and people
Like all mammals, whales breathe air with the help of the lungs, are warm-blooded, feed their young with milk from the mammary glands and have a hairline (albeit quite reduced).
A body, like a streamlined body of fish. The fins, sometimes also called fins, have a lobe-like appearance. At the end of the tail there is a fin of two horizontal blades, playing the role of mover and stabilizer, providing forward movement due to wave-like movements in the horizontal plane (unlike, for example, fish and aquatic reptiles, in which the plane of movement of the rowing tail is vertical).
Different protective devices have been developed for different groups of cetaceans to protect the skin from the harmful effects of the ultraviolet rays of the sun: for example, a blue whale is able to increase the content of ultraviolet absorbing pigments in the skin (“sunbathe”); others, like a sperm whale, trigger a special “stress response”, as a protection against oxygen radicals; others, like finwal, use both methods. In cold water, whales maintain their body temperature thanks to a thick layer of fat under the skin. This layer protects internal organs from hypothermia.
Due to the fact that whales, like dolphins, need to occasionally rise to the surface for breathing, only half of their brain can sleep at a certain point in time.
Whale fishing [ | ]
Whale fishing has been going on since the end of the first millennium AD. The purpose of whaling was primarily the extraction of blubber, which served as fuel and valuable industrial raw materials. The extraction of whales for the sake of meat (whale) began to play a noticeable role only in the second half of the 20th century (whale was used, in particular, for making sausages). A whalebone was also valuable, vitamin A was obtained from the liver of whales, hormones, in particular insulin, were obtained from glands and the brain
Intensive fishing of whales eventually led to a strong reduction in their numbers, and in 1931 the first international steps were taken to limit its size. In 1982, a moratorium on prey for cetaceans was introduced. Currently, several countries continue to limit the fishing of whales, including for scientific purposes and to meet the needs of indigenous peoples.
Whales in mythology[ | ]
Myths about whales penetrated from the east to the Greeks and were thus introduced into the Apocrypha. In the Greek Physiologist, where the whale is called άσπιδοχελώνη , the same legend is given about him as in the collection of Arabic fairy tales “1001 Nights”: “The whale looks like an island; shipbuilders pester him and, driving in stakes, tie ships to them; the monster does not move; but as soon as they fire on his ridge, he immediately goes into the depths, taking with him the deceived swimmers. " Apocrypha, under the influence of legends common in the East about the Earth resting on some animal, made the whales the foundations of the Earth. According to the “Conversation of the Three Saints”, the Earth swims over the great sea on three large whales and 30 small ones; the latter cover with themselves 30 ends of the sea; "Those whales eat a tenth of the fragrance of paradise, and from that they are full." In the legend of Methodius of Tatar about Noah, the global flood is explained by the fact that the whales, by the command of God, retreated from the sea completely, as a result of which water went to the earth. “” And “Pigeon Book” connect the movement of the whale with the demise of the world. According to the "Pigeon Book" - "Whale fish to all mother fish. The land is based on fish whales; when the whale-fish turns, then our white light will end. ”
In heraldry[ | ]
Images of whales can be found on the arms of Kola, Ust-Kamchatsk and other cities.
| Heraldry whales on Wikimedia Commons | |
| Heraldry whales at Wikinews |
Whales and cetaceans belong to the order of mammals. Whales - the largest animals in size - perfectly adapted to the permanent habitat under water. The roots of the name "whale" are Greek. Translated from this language, the whale is a sea monster. There are 3 suborders of cetaceans. These are ancient whales, toothed whales and baleen whales. The two suborders that inhabit our planet to this day have large differences in both internal and external structure.
Cetaceans have a streamlined body. Evolution has caused the hind limbs to atrophy and the forelimbs to flippers. The skin is characterized by high elasticity, water resistance and elasticity. All this reduces friction when swimming. Cetaceans, as a rule, are endowed with a massive head, which almost immediately passes into the body.
Cetaceans do not have skin glands, with the exception of two mammary glands, which protrude only when the female has a calf. For the rest of the time, they are located in longitudinal skin pockets in the posterior half of the body. Coloring can be spotty, monophonic and anti-shadow. The latter means that the color is light below and dark above. In addition, age-related changes in body color are characteristic of some cetaceans.
Cetacean eyes are located on the sides of the head. Their sizes are relatively small. And the eyelids are undeveloped. Many cetaceans have monocular vision and shortsightedness. The oily secretion of garderoic acid protects cetacean eyes from the effects of water: both mechanical and chemical. Cetaceans are endowed with conjunctive glands. The latter are not known in other mammals. Cetaceans have lost their sense of smell, but they have a very developed sense of touch. There are communication signals that vary significantly depending on the situation.
Cetaceans are predominantly monogamous; pregnancy in females lasts for 7-18 months. Whale milk is very nutritious, the fat content of which reaches 54.6%.
Cetaceans are multifunctional. The function of the pectoral fins (aka flippers) can be defined as “rudders of depth”. In addition, it is these modified forelimbs that provide braking and cornering. The hind limbs of the cetaceans atrophied, and the main locomotor organ is the caudal part of the body. The latter is very muscular and flexible. At the end of the tail of the cetaceans are paired tail lobes. The role of the stabilizer during swimming in most cetaceans is performed by the unpaired dorsal fin. Dorsal and caudal fins are skin lesions. They are devoid of the skeleton. It is worth noting that dorsal fin is characterized by variable elasticity - this means that the elasticity of the fin depends on the whale swimming speed. Variable elasticity is achieved with special blood vessels. Both the dorsal and pectoral fins possess it, but to a slightly lesser extent than the caudal fin. Another function of cetaceans is the thermoregulatory function. It consists in the fact that, to a greater extent, it is through the fins that the excess heat leaves. Cetaceans are highly specialized mammals. In appearance, cetaceans are similar to fish. However, the internal structure of cetaceans and fish has very significant differences. The following features are characteristic of cetaceans. First, breathing through the lungs and warm-bloodedness. Secondly, on the skin of cetaceans there is a slight hairline. Thirdly, intrauterine development of the fetus. Signs that combine cetaceans with other mammals, of course, include feeding the young with milk.
Cetacean lungs are not associated with the oral cavity. This distinguishes them from other mammals. Cetaceans are able to breathe air on the surface of the water. It happens as follows. Air fills the lungs of cetaceans. During that time, while the whale is underwater, the air is saturated with moisture and heats up. At that moment, when the whale hits the surface of the water, the cold outside air comes into contact with warmer air, which the whale exhales with force. In this case, a column of condensed vapor is observed. This is the famous cetacean fountain.
The cetacean respiratory system has undergone very evolutionary changes. Once the nostrils of cetaceans were on the front of the head. However, evolution has led them to move up, and now the nostrils are one or two spiracles (respiratory openings). The latter makes it easier to obtain oxygen at the time of whale diving on the surface of the water. The risk of water entering the lungs is eliminated by the fact that the oral cavity has no connection with the air duct. In addition, the breather is also closed by valves while the whale is under water. Cetaceans emerge on the surface of the water approximately every five to ten minutes to fill the lungs with air. However, they can be under water for approximately forty-five minutes. When cetaceans rise to the surface, they immediately quickly release the used air, which is accompanied by a very loud noise. This noise is distinguishable even at a considerable distance from the whale.
The cetacean fountain is a stream of water. No, this is a fallacy. The fountain is the same exhaust air that cetaceans exhale with force. The analogy with a water fountain is due to the fact that the exhausted warm air contains a lot of water vapor. In order to completely change the air in the lungs, cetaceans several times in a row release a fountain. After this “procedure”, the whale is immersed in water. The immersion depth is sometimes very significant, and for some whales it can even reach six hundred meters! Large cetaceans are able to completely break away from the water when jumping.
A streamlined body is characteristic of cetaceans. The skin is smooth and without hair. All this is necessary for whales to reduce water resistance when swimming, friction is reduced due to the elasticity, water resistance and high elasticity of the skin of whales. Due to the fact that cetaceans are often found in cold waters, they are characterized by the presence of a thick layer of fat. This is absolutely necessary for them to protect against hypothermia.
Subcutaneous fat in cetaceans performs several functions. The thickness of the adipose tissue under the skin can vary from three centimeters to thirty centimeters. Protection against hypothermia is only one of the functions of subcutaneous fat, due to which the body temperature of cetaceans ranges from 35 to 40 ° C. In addition to protection against hypothermia, subcutaneous fat protects the body of the whale from loss of water. It holds water in the body of cetaceans. Otherwise, water would diffuse into the environment. Another function of the subcutaneous fat layer is that it serves as an energy reserve. In winter, it plays an exceptional role in nutrition.
The blue whale (blue whale) is the largest creature on the planet. This is actually so. Its weight can be almost two hundred tons. In length, the blue whale can reach thirty-three meters. This is really a huge animal.
The range of distribution of blue whale extends from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Once this was exactly so, that is, the blue whale inhabited almost the entire oceans. The exceptions were only some small seas. However, thanks to human efforts, the blue whale was almost exterminated. Whaling led to the fact that the blue whale was listed in the Red Book.
Blue whales keep alone. Only occasionally. Basically, blue whales hold two to three whales together and live away from the coast. The same small groups of blue whales often gather in places where plankton accumulates.
A blue whale travels at a speed of ten kilometers per hour. Ten to twelve kilometers per hour is the average speed of blue whales. When moving, these whales constantly change direction, and during the pursuit they move in a straight line with a speed that reaches twenty-four kilometers per hour.
Blue whale daily absorbs a huge number of kilocalories. It's hard to believe, but this daily amount is about one million kilocalories per day. A blue whale absorbs approximately one tonne of crustaceans (krill) per day. This is done as follows: a whale swims through a colony of crustaceans, while swallowing a huge number of them. After that, the crustaceans themselves are filtered using a tongue (separated from the water), the thickness of which is more than three meters. This is surprising, but the weight of the tongue of a blue whale can exceed the weight of an elephant.
Seasonal migrations of whales are associated with making huge distances. For example, a well-known fact is that one of the blue whales covered a distance of three thousand kilometers for forty-seven days. This kind of travel often leads the blue whales away from their pastures. For many days and even months, they don’t eat anything at all. Sustainability is maintained through the use of accumulated resources.
Gray whales do the longest migrations. In a year they are able to swim twelve thousand kilometers. Their route runs from the shores of California (where gray whales winter) to the Bering Sea (where gray whales stay for summer feeding). And then back. Some whales also migrate over fairly long distances. However, these migrations do not have a pronounced seasonal period and are less regular. And some whales lead a relatively settled lifestyle. Their "migrations" occur within a small water area. It is worth noting that any kind of migration is carried out by whales on certain routes and on the territory they know.
Gray whales are the oldest species of baleen whales. They have been known to people for many centuries, since their whole life is connected with coastal waters. Once upon a time, three populations of baleen whales inhabited the waters of the oceans. This is the Atlantic and two Pacific (eastern and western). However, the Atlantic population of baleen whales was exterminated as early as the eighteenth century, and by the middle of the twentieth century, the western population was almost destroyed. The diet of gray whales includes mainly bottom crustaceans; they feed for five warm months. This is the time when the sea is free of people. For the rest of the year, cetaceans maintain viability due to the accumulated fat in the warm months. Gray whales also have seasonal migrations.
The western gray whale population is on the verge of extinction. A critical condition is reported by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. At the moment, only about a hundred individuals remain. Of these, only 20-25 females are able to give offspring.
The length of the newborn blue whale is approximately six to seven meters. After an eleven-month pregnancy, the baby is born with a weight of more than two tons. A blue whale calf consumes an average of half a ton of milk daily. Within a week, the baby's weight becomes twice as large as compared to birth weight.
Whales make the loudest sound compared to other living things. The sound used by whales to communicate can be 188 decibels and can last up to thirty seconds. The sound is so loud (it surpasses even the roar of the jet engine) that the whales recognize it at a distance exceeding one and a half thousand kilometers. Sound for animals whose aquatic environment is the most important source of information. Sound perception is possible due to the bones of the skull and lower jaw.
Whales lack vocal cords. Sound reproduction in baleen whales and toothed whales occurs in different ways. Moustached thanks to the pharynx and larynx, and toothed due to vibration of the “sound lips”. At what frequencies whales perceive sound signals, at the same frequencies they emit. The cetaceans have a large set of sounds through which their communication takes place. Signals of anxiety, mating, nutrition, fear, pain, etc. are significantly different from each other.
A whalebone is a “device” for filtering food from water. Basically we are talking about marine plankton. A whalebone characteristic of toothless whales is a series of horny plates that hang from the upper jaw.
Whales have poor eyesight. This is indeed so. Many whales are not able to make out an object located in close proximity to them.
Cetaceans are leaders among mammals by brain mass. For example, in a sperm whale, the brain mask varies from 7.8 to 9.2 kilograms. However, as a percentage of the total body weight, the mass of the brain in cetaceans is small - in blue whales it is only about 0.007% of the total body weight. It is worth noting the fact that the brain in cetaceans is highly differentiated.
Cetaceans have lost their sense of smell. Almost lost. In whiskered whales, the olfactory nerves and olfactory lobes of the brain are in their infancy. In toothed whales, they are generally absent. As for taste, it is not known exactly, but presumably it is poorly developed. With the help of taste, whales are able to distinguish salinity of water.
Cetaceans have a well-developed sense of touch. This is indeed so. The skin of the cetaceans is richly innervated. For example, baleen whales have tactile hairs on their heads (which, however, are quite rare). To a certain extent, they serve to search for accumulations of plankton.
The hearing organs of cetaceans are very changed. They do not have an auricle, and the narrowed ear canal opens with a small opening behind the eye. The auditory meatus appears to be a separate sensory organ. In this role, he perceives a change in pressure.
Cetacean feeding is specialized. Whales can be planktophages, and ichthyophages, and teutophages, and sacrophages. For example, killer whales feed not only on invertebrates and fish, but can even eat birds and seals.
Cetaceans are predominantly monogamous. Mostly cetaceans breed once every two years. The duration of pregnancy in different species of cetaceans varies from seven to eighteen months. Those cetacean species that are characterized by seasonal migrations will usually give birth in winter in warm waters. Non-migratory species of cetaceans will give birth in summer.
Multiplicity is characteristic of cetaceans. At the beginning of pregnancy, a female cetacean in the uterus may have two or three embryos. However, in most cases only one of them remains - twins are extremely rare. Births in cetaceans are carried out under water. A baby is born already well developed. Its length varies from one fourth to one second the length of the mother’s body. The baby immediately after birth is already able to move independently. The first respiratory act of the cub occurs at the moment of its first emergence reflexively (unconditioned reflex).
Cetacean females are endowed with a strong maternal instinct. After birth, the baby spends all the time next to his mother. Using the pressure of the hydrodynamic field around the mother’s body, the baby swims passively next to the mother.
Feeding in cetaceans is carried out underwater. This is often the case. The baby consumes milk very often, but each “meal” occurs within just a few seconds. Feeding takes place as follows: the cetacean calf tightly captures the mother’s nipple, after which, with the help of special muscle contractions of the mother, the milk enters the calf’s mouth.
Whale milk is very nutritious. Milk is very thick. The color is usually cream. The milk fat content reaches 54%. The surface tension of cetacean milk is approximately thirty times that of water. That is why the stream of milk destined for the cub does not dissolve in the water. A blue whale produces approximately two hundred liters of milk daily. The baby is growing very fast. By the end of feeding (and its duration in the wild in different species of cetaceans varies from four months to thirteen months), its size increases by at least a third.
The increase in cetacean body size occurs over twelve years. Although whales reach puberty at the age of three to six years. You can talk about the physical maturity of a whale after its skeleton is completely ossified. It is worth noting the fact that the process of ossification of the spine in cetaceans proceeds from both its ends. However, from the tail end is somewhat faster than from the head end. The process of ossification of the spine ends in the thoracic region. The life span of cetaceans reaches fifty years. The main enemy of cetaceans is man.
Cetaceans are very significant for humans. This was until recently - before many whales were on the verge of extinction. Man used the organs of cetaceans in order to obtain technical and food products. For example, theatrical makeup, soap, laundry detergents, various lubricants, margarine were obtained from cetacean fat boiled from subcutaneous fat. For the manufacture of printing ink and linoleum, polymerized fat was used. Whale fat (more precisely, its protein part) was used to prepare glue and gelatin. And the meat of cetaceans in various forms was eaten. In addition, endocrine glands of cetaceans came in handy for drugs used in medicine. We are talking, for example, about insulin. Naturally, such a large-scale use of cetaceans could not but affect the number of their individuals. Many whales were on the verge of extinction and were included in the Red Book.
February 19 is World Whale Day. This holiday was established in 1986. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has banned industrial whaling this year and this day around the world. A ban was imposed on the sale of whale meat in all corners of the planet. Environmentalists consider this day to be the day of protection for all marine and ocean mammals.
For scientific purposes, you can catch whales. After 1986, when whaling was banned around the world, Japan nevertheless found a loophole that allowed it to catch whales for "scientific purposes." For example, in 2007, a catch quota of almost a thousand whales was established. However, as soon as the "scientific work" came to an end, whale meat fell into Japanese restaurants. Japan intends to resume catching whales during the breeding season, as well as fishing for humpback whales. The latter are valuable in that amber is formed in their intestines. It is very expensive and is used in perfumes. The grayish substance of ambergris gives resistance to expensive perfumes. On February 19, 2010, Australia demanded that the Japanese authorities stop fishing for whales. If this does not happen, then a criminal case may be instituted in The Hague. There is an international criminal court.
A whale is a sea monster. In the truest sense of the word. Indeed, this is how the Greek word is translated, from which the name of this amazing animal came from - κῆτος. A lot can be said about marine inhabitants belonging to the cetacean order. But it is worth stopping at the most interesting facts.
Title
The first step is to give an answer to a question that worries many. And it sounds like this: “Is a whale a fish or a mammal?” The second of the proposed options is correct.
A whale is a large marine mammal that has no relation to porpoises or dolphins. Although they are included in the order Cetacea (cetaceans). In general, the names are very interesting. Grinds and killer whales, for example, are considered whales. Although in accordance with a strict official classification they are dolphins, which few people know about.
And it is better to trust a strict classification, since in the old days they called leviathans - sea multi-headed monsters that could devour the planet. In a word, an entertaining story has a name.
Origin
Well, the answer to the question “Is a whale a fish or a mammal?” Was given above. Now we can talk about the types of these creatures.
To begin with, it is worth noting that all whales are descendants of land mammals. And those who belonged to the cloven-hoofed squads! This is not fiction, but a scientifically proven fact that was established after molecular genetic examinations. There is even a monophyletic group (treasure), combining whales, hippos and all artiodactyls. All of them are whale-hoofed. According to research, the whales and hippos descended from the same creature that lived on our planet about 54 million years ago.
Detachments
So now about whale species. Or rather, about subcontracts. The first species is baleen whales. They are the largest of modern mammals. Their physiological feature is a mustache with a filter-like structure.
The second species is toothed whales. Carnivores, fast creatures. They are superior to toothless whales. Only sperm whale can be compared to them in size. And their feature, as you might have guessed, is the presence of teeth.
And the third species is the ancient whales. Those that no longer exist. They belong to the paraphyletic group of animals from which modern whale species later descended.
Anatomical features
Now it is worth considering the description of the whale from a physiological point of view. This animal is a mammal, and warm-blooded. Accordingly, each whale breathes with the help of the lungs, and their cubs are fed milk. And the hair of these creatures has, albeit reduced.
Since these mammals are exposed to the sun, their skin is protected from ultraviolet rays. True, in each species it is expressed differently. A blue whale, for example, can increase the content in its skin of special pigments that absorb radiation (in simple terms, it “tans”). Sperm whale protects against oxygen radicals by triggering a "stress response". Finwal practices both methods.
By the way, these creatures maintain their warm-bloodedness due to the presence of a thick fat layer under the skin. It is he who protects the internal organs of marine animals from hypothermia.
Oxygen absorption process
It is interesting to talk about how whales breathe. These mammals can be under water for at least 2 minutes and a maximum of 40. True, there is a record holder, and it is a sperm whale that can stay under water for 1.5 hours.
The outer nostrils of these creatures are in the upper part of the head. They have special valves that reflexively close the airways when the whale is immersed in water. At the time of diving, they open. It is important to know that the airway is not connected to the esophagus. So the whale absorbs air safely, without harm to itself. Even if there is water in his mouth. And by the way, talking about how the whales breathe, it is worth noting that they do it quickly. Speeds contribute to shortened bronchi and trachea. By the way, their lungs are very powerful. In one breath, the whale renews air by 90%. And the person is only 15%.
It is worth noting that through the nostrils (also called the breath) at the moment of emergence, a column of condensed steam comes out. The same fountain, which is the hallmark of the whales. This is due to the fact that the whale exhales warm air from itself, which is in contact with the outside (cold). So the fountain is the result of temperature exposure. The vapor column of different whales differs in height and shape. The most impressive are the “fountains” of large mammals. They come out of their breathing chamber with such enormous power that the process is accompanied by a loud trumpet sound. In good weather, you can hear it from the shore.
Food
A few words are worth telling about what the whales eat. The diet in animals is diverse. Toothed whales, for example, eat fish, cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish) and in some cases mammals.
Whiskered representatives feed on plankton. They absorb a huge amount of crustaceans, filtering it out of the water or with the help of a mustache. Small fish, these animals can also eat.
The most interesting thing is that in winter, whales hardly eat. And for this reason, in the summer they continuously absorb food. This approach helps them accumulate a thick layer of fat.
By the way, they need a lot of food. Large whales consume about three tons of food per day.
Bright representative
Of particular note is the blue whale. This is the largest animal of all that has ever existed on our planet. It reaches a length of 33 meters and weighs about 150 tons.
By the way, the blue whale is a representative of the mustachioed suborder. It feeds on plankton. He has a perfectly developed filter apparatus, due to which he filters the absorbed mass inside.
There are three subspecies of this animal. There is a dwarf, southern and northern whale. The last two live in cold round-polar waters. Dwarf is found in tropical seas.
It is believed that blue whales live about 110 years. In any case, so many were the most adult individuals encountered by people.
Unfortunately, the blue whale is not such a common marine inhabitant. In the XX century, uncontrolled hunting was opened on these animals. By the middle of the last century, only 5 thousand individuals remained around the world. People committed a terrible act, destroying them. Emergency protective measures were taken. At the moment, the number of individuals has doubled, but blue whales are still at risk.
Beluga whale
This is a representative of the toothed whale family. Beluga is not very large. Its mass reaches only 2 tons, and its length is 6 meters. Belugas have excellent hearing, keen perception of any sounds, as well as the ability to echolocation. In addition, these are social creatures - there are cases in which these whales saved a person. In oceanariums, they get along well, get used to people over time, and even become attached to workers.
Their diet is diverse. Belugas eat cod, flounder, herring, shellfish, seaweed, shrimp, lampreys, jellyfish ribs, pink salmon, gobies, sea dogs, crayfish and many other marine animals suitable for food.
These creatures, like many others, also suffered from human cruelty. Whalers easily drove them to the shallows, and beluga whales in the literal sense of the word were broken. But at the moment, this species is gradually recovering. It is hoped that people will not ruin anything.
There are dozens of other representatives of cetaceans, and all in their own way are special and interesting. And I hope that every species that we know will be preserved. The sea world should not lose a single one of them, since each of them is a real miracle and natural value.
The fact that the whale is a fish, only a giant, people thought in ancient times. Their judgments were based only on the external similarity of whales and fish, as well as on the fact that they live exclusively in water. At the same time, even Aristotle suggested that whales and dolphins are mammals, only then his judgments did not have significant evidence, so they were questioned.
Later, people had more and more opportunities to study in detail the way of life of whales. Before talking about why whales are mammals, let’s say who mammals are in principle. The definition lies on the surface and is embedded in the word itself: mammals are those who feed on milk, and more precisely, those who are fed with milk.
So, in the course of observing whales, it was found out that the females give birth to live cubs, and then they are fed with milk. And fish spawn, from which the offspring subsequently emerges, and, of course, there is no question of any milk feeding in fish.
Another significant difference between whales and fish is that whales breathe air. That is, they cannot be constantly under water. Periodically (at least once every two hours), whales float to the surface to draw air into the lungs. A high stream of water (up to 15 meters), which can be seen above the surface of the water, is formed when the whale exhales.
The largest mammal on Earth has not only the largest brain sizes, but also the highest level of intelligence. Whales grow by leaps and bounds, adding about 3 kilograms per hour in weight, and all because milk is very nutritious, the percentage of fat in it is approaching 50. The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived on Earth, its dimensions exceed even the extinct dinosaurs. A medium sized whale weighs like 2,000 people. The size of the internal organs of the whale is also the largest of all animals.
Animals feed mainly on fish. Among the peoples of the North there is a legend according to which whales are relatives, the ancestors of man. There is no scientific evidence for this, therefore, believing or not believing a myth is everyone's personal business. But one thing is certain for sure: whales are the only mammals, in addition to humans, who can sing. The sounds that they make are unique, melodic and organized as if it were actually a song that came from the pen of some eminent composer.
If earlier you had a question: a whale is a fish or an animal, now you can definitely answer it, backing up your opinion with scientific facts. It remains to wish interesting discoveries in the further study of the amazing life of the animal world!
Whales are the largest animals on our planet. The largest representative of cetaceans is the blue whale, its body length can reach 33 meters, and weight 120 tons. Outwardly, whales are very similar to fish, but these are not fish, but mammals that live in water. It is believed that the ancestors of the whales were terrestrial animals from the cloven-hoofed squad, which switched to an aquatic lifestyle about 50 million years ago.
Since whales are mammals, they are characterized by the main signs of all animals - they are warm-blooded, that is, they have a constant body temperature, breathe atmospheric air with the help of their lungs and feed their young with milk.
Whales have smooth, hairless skin. This body surface provides the whales with better glide in the water. Under the skin, whales have a thick layer of fat that prevents the whales from freezing in cold water. The head of a whale is large - in a blue whale its length reaches almost a third of the total body length. The eyes are very small, there are no auricles, but the whales are not deaf - behind the eyes they have small auditory openings leading to the eardrum. Keen hearing is important for whales, as it allows them to navigate well in the water.
Whales are cetaceans. This subgroup is divided into three suborders - toothed whales, baleen whales and ancient whales (ancient whales are completely extinct).
Spread
Whales live in all oceans and in some seas. Some whales prefer the cold waters of the polar seas (bowhead whales), others are more thermophilic, and there are those that can live in both cold and warm waters (sperm whales and killer whales).
Food
The methods of feeding in whales are different and depend on whether the whale belongs to the toothed or to the baleen.
Toothed whales have sharp teeth that can successfully hunt large squids and large fish. The killer whale can hunt not only for fish, but also for seals, birds and other marine inhabitants.
Baleen whales have no teeth, but there are special whiskers located on the upper jaw. Through these special plates, whales filter the water and extract plankton, small crustaceans, which are the main food source for baleen whales. Some baleen whales feed on small flocks of fish, filtering it out of the water, like plankton.
Lifestyle
Once every two years, usually one cub is born in a female whale. He is well developed and immediately knows how to swim. The first few months, the kitten eats mother’s milk and grows very quickly. The milk of a female whale is thick and nutritious; its fat content reaches 54%.
An adult whale is considered to be about three years old, but its body can increase in size up to about 12 years.
Summary of whales.