George Arun A
Whales are the largest animals on Earth and they live in every ocean. The massive mammals range from the 600-pound dwarf sperm whale to the colossal blue whale, which can weigh more than 200 tons and stretch up to 100 feet long—almost as long as a professional basketball court.
Whales are warm-blooded creatures that nurse their young.
Especially,
Blue whales are the largest animals ever to live on our planet. They feed almost exclusively on krill, straining huge volumes of ocean water through their baleen plates (which hang from the roof of the mouth and work like a sieve). Some of the biggest individuals may eat up to 6 tons of krill a day.
Blue whales are found in all oceans except the Arctic Ocean. There are five currently recognized subspecies of blue whales.
The number of blue whales today is only a small fraction of what it was before modern commercial whaling significantly reduced their numbers during the early 1900s, but populations are increasing globally. The primary threats blue whales currently face are vessel strikes and entanglements in fishing gear.
Whale talks
Whales, particularly humpbacks, produce otherworldly vocalizations that can be heard for miles underwater. The songs, complex combinations of moans, howls, and cries that can continue for hours, are produced when whales push air around in their heads, then amplify the sounds through a blob of fat that perches on the top jaw. It’s thought that whales communicate through the calls, which researchers believe can be heard for thousands of miles.
Threats
Though the stark population declines from hunting have largely stopped, several whale species are threatened or endangered—including the blue whale, right whale, and fin whale—by a combination of fishing net entanglements and being struck by ships.
Types of Whales
1. Blue Whale
The Blue whale is the largest known animal on the earth. They can grow as long as 90 to 110 feet in length and can weigh as much as 24 elephants! Female blue whales are longer than their male counterparts. Blue whales have long, slender greyish-blue bodies, which appear blue underwater. They occur in almost all oceans, except the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea. Blue whales are known as baleen whales i.e., they have special structures in their mouths called baleen which strain food from the water. They have a broad, flat U-shaped head, and 270–395 black baleen plates on each side of their upper jaw.
2. Orca or Killer Whale
The killer whale or orca is a toothed whale. Dolphins and whales are closely related, and the orcas are actually the largest member of the Dolphin family. They were referred to as “whale killers” by sailors or apex predators who saw them attack larger animals. Over time their name was changed to “killer whales.” A typical killer whale has a large, black-and-white body with a medium-sized white eye patch close to the eye. It lives in open water and feeding mostly on smaller whales in the sea.
3. Humpback Whale
The Humpback whale is a medium-length baleen whale that can grow as long as 16 m. They are called so as they raise and bend their backs to dive in the water that makes a hump in front of the dorsal fin. Humpbacks are known to live up to 50 years. These whales have long, white, wing-like flippers that are often as long as one-third of the animal’s body length. They also have long tails that can grow as much as 18 feet. Humpbacks are the most commonly known whales.
4. Beluga Whale
Belugas are the inhabitants of the Arctic and sub-Arctic ocean. They have a broad, rounded head and a large forehead and are toothed whales. They have a five-inch-thick layer of blubber to make them withstand the tough Arctic temperatures. Their dorsal ridge helps them travel through icy sea waters. They have broad, paddle-like flippers. They can also mimic the sounds they hear around them, including human speech.
5. Narwhal
The Narwhal, or Narwhale, is a medium-sized toothed whale that lives in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada, and Russia. These whales have a large “tusk” from a protruding canine tooth that can be as long as 9 feet that appear as a long spear. They eat small prey like halibut, shrimp and squid. Narwhals can only hold their breath for up to 25 minutes underwater. They have been known to swim up to 160 km per day while migrating.
6. Bowhead Whale
The bowhead whale is another species of baleen whales found in the arctic and the sub-arctic waters. Bowheads are rich in blubber which can be up to 20-inch in places and have 2 blowholes located near the top of the head. They have a large, bow-shaped head that is up to 40% of the body length. The largemouth is up to 10 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Their skin is usually black with a white spot on the lower snout. They are good divers and can vocalize when on migrations. It is also one of the amazing and beautiful types of whales.
7. Gray Whale
The Pacific Gray Whale is one of the animal kingdom’s great migratory animals that dwell in The Pacific Ocean. It reaches a length of 15 m and lives between 55 and 70 years. This whale has a dark greyish slate colour with white patches on its body. They have a hump and a ridge of sharp bumps along their backs and do not have a dorsal fin. They feed on shrimps, small fish, and krill in shallow waters.
8. Sperm Whale
The sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. These whales are found worldwide. The Sperm whale is named so because of the Spermaceti organ which occupies most of its huge head. In the past, whalers have sought out the Sperm whale for the valuable spermaceti oil, which makes an extremely fine lubricant. They have a dark, brownish-grey body with light streaks, spots, and scratches. Their large head makes up to 33% of their body length and mass. These whales have a single blowhole on the left side of the head. They excel in deep diving.
9. Cuvier’s Beaked Whale
Cuvier’s beaked whale is also known as the Goose-beaked whale. They are the most widely distributed of all the beaked whales. These beaked whales have a long and robust body with a relatively small head that can grow as long as 32 feet. This whale obtained its name from researcher Georges Curvier. The species was identified from a skull found on the Mediterranean coast of France. They generally dwell in deep pelagic waters, usually deeper than 1,000 m. They prey on deep-sea fish, but often, they come to the surface.
10. Spade-toothed Whale
The Spade-toothed whale is a very little-known species of whales. In fact, it is the rarest species of beaked whale. Until 2012, nothing was known about this species. The spade-toothed whale was seen for the first time after a mother and her male calf died on a New Zealand beach. The distinguishing features of these whales are the very large teeth, which are about 9 inches in length. A part of their tooth protrudes from the gums and has a shape similar to the tip of a spade. Beaked whales are excellent deep-sea divers and do not come to the surface easily.
These are the coolest types of whales existing all over the world. Sadly enough, 6 out of the 13 great whale species have become endangered or vulnerable, even after decades of protection. An estimated minimum of 300,000 whales and dolphins are killed each year as while others succumb to a myriad of threats including shipping and habitat loss. These are the 10 types of whales in the world.
Facts about Whales:
The heart of a blue whale weighs about 400 pounds (180 kilograms) and is about the size of a small golf cart.
Blue whales live to be over 110 years old.
The tongue of a blue whale weighs as much as a full-grown elephant.
Blue whales reach sexual maturity after five to 15 years.
Blue whales have been protected worldwide since 1967.
Blue whales are so big and fast – if they have to be – that only killer whale groups hunt them on rare occasions.
At birth, a baby blue whale is already over 23 feet (seven meters) long and weighs more than 5.5 short tons (five tons).
With one “bite”, blue whales consume up to 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) of food or almost half a million calories. Opening the mouth and eating food alone can burn up to 2,000 calories.
Blue whales normally travel at a speed of five miles per hour (eight kilometers per hour) but can accelerate to 30 miles per hour (nearly 50 kilometers per hour) when hunted.
Blue whales can be found in every ocean in the world except the Arctic Ocean.
In the 19th century, there were an estimated 250,000 blue whales in the world, but industrial whaling reduced the number to only about 400 by 1967.
Blue whales do not have teeth, but baleen – delicate horny plates through which the blue whale can filter out krill from vast quantities of water and then swallow it.
Blue whales give birth to a calf at intervals of two to three years.
By 2020, an estimated 25,000 blue whales were again living in the world.
Blue whales only look blue underwater. On the surface, their skin is more blue-gray.
Blue whales are the heaviest animals in the history of the earth. With a maximum length of up to 108 feet (33 meters), they come to a weight of 220 short tons (200 tons).
The arteries of a blue whale are so thick that a human could swim in them.
Blue whales are the longest mammals that have ever existed on the planet.
Blue whales are pregnant for twelve months.
A blue whale’s heartbeat can drop to two beats per minute at depth. In contrast, the heart beats much faster at the surface, up to 34 beats per minute.
In its first year, a blue whale infant gains about 200 pounds (90 kilograms) of weight per day – or 8.3 pounds (3.75 kilograms) per hour.
The penis of a blue whale is about 6.5 feet (two meters) long when erect and has a diameter of 11.8 inches (30 centimeters). Therefore, the blue whale has the longest penis in the world.
A blue whale eats up to four tons of krill a day.
A baby blue whale drinks about 50 gallons (190 liters) of mother’s milk every day, which has a fat content of 40 to 50 percent.
The blue whale is the loudest animal in the world. Its cry can still be heard up to 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away.
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