The whale is a mammal. Whales are sea monsters. Who is a whale

The blue whale, also known as the blue whale, is the largest mammal that has ever existed on our planet. Despite its massive size, this giant feeds on almost the smallest sea inhabitants - tiny shrimp (krill). The length of a blue whale can reach 23-33 m, and its weight is 150 tons. Moreover, females are usually larger than males.

Is the blue whale a fish or an animal? The blue whale cannot be classified as a fish for several reasons: firstly, the absence of gills - the whale breathes with its lungs. Secondly, whales have a 4-chambered heart, not a 2-chambered one like fish. Thirdly, females feed their cubs with milk, that is, they are mammals. Finally, whales have no scales and are warm-blooded, unlike fish. These are just a few of the main reasons why we can classify blue whales as animals rather than fish.

Vomit is an animal of the baleen whale order. It has an elongated, slender body and a large head, which makes up 27% of the total body length. The upper jaw of the blue whale is significantly narrower than the lower jaw. Vomiting is usually dark gray in color, sometimes with a blue tint. Large spots are often found on the body, mainly on the abdominal and posterior parts. If you look at a whale from above - through the water, it appears blue, which is why it got its name.

The blue whale dives to a fairly large depth - up to 200 m, but if it is wounded or frightened, it can dive even deeper - up to 500 m. The duration of the dive, as a rule, is from 5 to 30 minutes, but if the whale is pursued by whalers, then out of fear he can hide underwater for almost an hour. After surfacing, the whale breathes rapidly for 2-10 minutes and dives again. Each time it emerges, it releases a fountain of steam up to 10 meters high.

The blue whale feeds mainly on plankton. To catch it, it opens its mouth and swims, slowly absorbing water with krill that it encounters along the way. Then, closing its mouth, the vomit with its tongue pushes out the water through the whalebone. At the same time, food settles on the whisker fringe and is then swallowed. The stomach of a blue whale can hold up to a ton of food. Barfs eat mainly in the summer, and after migrating to warm waters for the winter, they eat almost nothing.

Some scientists believe that the brain of blue whales is most similar in its capabilities to the human brain when compared with other animals. Blue whales also have a good memory: they can remember where they were born and raised, and recognize their parents even after many years.

These animals have poor eyesight and sense of smell. But they have well-developed hearing and sense of touch. Blue whales exchange sound signals with their relatives at a distance of up to 33 km.

Vomit is a solitary animal. Occasionally, individuals unite in small flocks, but even there they swim separately. However, these animals are believed to be monogamous and form very close and long-lasting bonds.

If a whale lives in water and has a fish-like body shape, then why is it not considered a fish?

Because a whale is a marine mammal that descends from earthly ancestors. Over the course of many millennia spent in the water, whales began to resemble fish in shape, but their body structure and lifestyle remained similar to land animals.

For example, a whale's fins have an internal structure that resembles a hand with five fingers. On the body of some whales there are even bones where the hind legs should be! But the most important difference between whales and fish is that, like all other mammals, whales feed their young with mother's milk. These babies do not hatch from eggs or eggs, but are born alive. And for some time after birth, the baby whale remains close to its mother, who takes care of it.

Since all mammals have warm blood, and the whale does not have fur to keep it warm in icy water, it instead has blubber, which is a layer of subcutaneous tissue filled with fat that retains heat as well as a fur coat.

And whales breathe differently than fish. Instead of gills, they have lungs into which they draw air through two nostrils located at the top of their heads. When whales dive underwater, these nostrils close with small valves to keep water out. Every five to ten minutes the whale rises to the surface of the water to take a breath. First of all, he noisily spews out exhaust air through his nostrils. As a result of this, the very “fountain” that is always drawn in pictures about whales appears. Then he takes a deep breath of fresh air into his lungs and dives again to continue moving underwater.

Why does a whale have a fountain?

Whales are not fish, but mammals. They are warm-blooded creatures, their young are born by live birth, rather than hatching from eggs. Baby whales feed on their mother's milk, just like other mammals.

But the ancestors of whales, like all other mammals, lived on land. Therefore, whales had to adapt to living conditions in the water. This means that over millions of years, changes occurred in their bodies that gave them the opportunity to live in a different environment.

Since whales do not have gills, they breathe through lungs, and their respiratory system has undergone the most changes during evolution. Previously, their nostrils were on the front of the head, then they gradually moved upward. They now form one or two breathing holes that make it easier to obtain oxygen at the surface of the water.

Underwater, the breathing holes are closed by two small valves, and since the air passage is not connected to the mouth, there is no danger of water entering the lungs.

Whales usually come to the surface for air every 5-10 minutes, but sometimes they can stay underwater for 45 minutes! Having emerged to the surface of the water, the whale immediately releases the used air from its lungs. When he does this, a loud noise is heard that can be heard over a considerable distance. What does a whale fountain consist of? This is not water, but simply exhaust air and water vapor.

To completely change the air in the lungs, the whale blows a fountain several times, after which it plunges deeply into the water. Some whales are famous for being able to dive to depths of 600 meters! Sometimes large whales lift their tails above the water or even jump into the air, completely lifting off the surface of the water!

Whales (in Greek - “sea monsters”) are large marine mammals belonging to the fairly large order Cetaceans. The status of the name has not been fully determined at the moment, but representatives of Otrad include any cetaceans, with the exception of dolphins and porpoises.

Description of whales

Along with other mammals, whales use lungs for breathing, belong to the category of warm-blooded animals, feed their newborn offspring with milk produced by the mammary glands, and also have fairly reduced hair.

Appearance

Whales have a spindle-shaped body that resembles the streamlined shape of almost any fish.. The fins, which are sometimes called flippers, have a lobe-like appearance. The tail end is characterized by the presence of a fin, represented by two horizontal blades. Such a fin has the function of a stabilizer and a kind of “engine”, therefore, in the process of wave-like movements in the vertical plane, the whales are provided with fairly easy movement in the forward direction.

This is interesting! Whales, like dolphins, do not need to rise to the surface of the water very often for the purpose of breathing, so only half of the animal’s brain is able to rest during sleep at a certain time.

The protection of the whale's skin from the negative effects of ultraviolet sunlight is provided by various protective devices, which differ markedly in different groups of cetacean mammals.

For example, blue whales are able to increase the content of pigments in their skin, which very effectively absorb a fairly large amount of ultraviolet radiation. Sperm whales trigger special “stress” reactions, similar to the response to exposure to oxygen radicals, and fin whales are able to use both protective methods. In cold waters, whales maintain a stable body temperature thanks to a very thick and uniform fat layer located directly under the skin of such a large mammal. This layer of subcutaneous fat serves as a very effective and complete protection of the whale’s internal organs from severe hypothermia.

Character and lifestyle

According to scientists, whales belong to the category of animals that lead a predominantly diurnal lifestyle. Almost all representatives of the order Cetaceans are capable of staying directly under water for a long time and without renewing air in their lungs, but a significant number of such mammals rarely use this natural opportunity, so whales most often dive only when immediate danger appears.

However, among whales there are real, very good deep-sea swimmers. For example, the sperm whale is such an unsurpassed diver. This whale can easily dive into water to a depth of a couple of thousand meters, remaining underwater for an hour and a half. This feature is due to the presence of several changes that the whale’s body has undergone, including increased lung capacity and increased hemoglobin content in the blood, as well as a high volume of myoglobin in muscle tissue. In addition, the whale's respiratory center has low sensitivity to the amount of carbon dioxide. Before diving, the whale breathes very deeply, during which the muscle hemoglobin is actively saturated with oxygen and the lungs are filled with clean air.

This is interesting! All whales are gregarious marine animals, preferring to form groups of several dozen or even hundreds of individuals.

Whales are large animals, but very peaceful. Many cetacean species are characterized by seasonal migrations. With the onset of cold weather, mammals migrate towards warmer waters, and after a while return back. From year to year, such aquatic animals adhere to only one route, so during the migration process they return to already inhabited and familiar areas. For example, the Asian herd of fin whales is characterized by summer fattening in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, rich in food, near the Chukotka Peninsula and Kamchatka. With the onset of cold weather, such whales move to the waters of the Yellow Sea or closer to the southern Japanese shores.

How long do whales live?

The smallest species of whales live about a quarter of a century, and the average life expectancy of the largest representatives of the order Cetaceans can be fifty years. The age of a whale is determined in several ways: according to the appearance of the female's ovaries or baleen plates, as well as by the ear plug or teeth.

Types of whales

Representatives of the order Cetaceans are represented by two suborders:

  • Baleen whales (Mysticeti) – are distinguished by the presence of whiskers, as well as a filter-like structure, which is located on the upper jaw of the animal and consists mainly of keratin. Baleen is used in the filtration of various aquatic plankton and allows a significant volume of water to be filtered through the comb-like mouth structure. Baleen whales are by far the largest representatives of all suborders of whales;
  • Toothed whales (Odontoseti) – are characterized by the presence of teeth, and the structural features of such aquatic mammals allow them to hunt squid and fairly large fish, which are the main source of their diet. The special abilities of absolutely all representatives of this group also include the ability to sense the features of the environment, called echolocation. Toothed whales also include porpoises and dolphins.

The group Baleen whales is divided into four families: minke whales (Balaenopteridae), gray whales (Eschrichtiidae), smooth whales (Balaenidae) and dwarf whales (Neobalaenidae). Such families include ten species, represented by the bowhead, southern pygmy, gray, humpback, blue, fin and sei whales, as well as minke and Bryde's whales.

The families of toothed whales include:

  • Gangetic dolphins (Platanistidae Gray);
  • Dolphinidae (Delphinidae Gray);
  • Narwhals (Monodontidae Gray);
  • Sperm whales (Physeteridae Gray);
  • Inii (Iniidae Gray);
  • Dwarf sperm whales (Cogiidae Gill);
  • Beaked whales (Ziрhiidae Gray);
  • Laplatan dolphins (Pontororiidae Gray);
  • Porpoises (Phocoenidae Gray);
  • River dolphins (Lipōtidae Gray).

The third suborder of the order Cetaceans are the ancient whales (Archaeoceti), which are today a completely extinct group.

Range, habitats

The largest distribution area is distinguished by sperm whales, which live in the waters of the entire World Ocean, with the exception of the coldest southern and northern regions, and dwarf sperm whales also inhabit warm or moderately warm waters of the World Ocean.

Representatives of baleen whales are widespread in the oceans, with the exception of the bowhead whale, which lives in Arctic waters, the Bryde's whale, which inhabits the warm zone of the World Ocean, and the dwarf whale, which is found in the cold and temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere.

Whale diet

The composition of the diet of different cetacean species varies in accordance with their geographical distribution, ecological zone and time of year. Depending on their basic food preferences, different species of whales live in certain oceanic zones. Planktivores or smooth whales feed mainly in the waters of the open sea, catching accumulations of zooplankton in the surface layers, represented by small crustaceans and pteropods. Benthophages or gray whales typically feed at shallow depths, and ichthyophages from the dolphin family prefer to catch schooling fish.

A significant part of minke whales are accustomed to a mixed diet represented by various crustaceans and fish, and teutophages, including sperm whales, beaked whales and gray dolphins, prefer only cephalopods.

Seasonal changes in feeding conditions can cause quite sharp fluctuations in such a parameter as the level of fatness of whales. Cetaceans are the most well-fed at the end of the autumn feeding period, and mammals become less well-fed in spring and winter. During the active breeding season, many whales do not feed at all.

Reproduction and offspring

All species of whales are adapted to produce their offspring exclusively in fairly warm waters. It is for this reason that mammals that live in cold areas and are accustomed to making long migrations give birth to their babies in the winter, moving to areas with higher water temperatures.

This is interesting! Newborn whales are not only very large, but also well formed, which is due to the loss of pelvic bones in such aquatic animals, which impose some restrictions on the maximum size of the fetus.

Pregnancy in various species of whales lasts from nine to sixteen months, and the result of childbirth is the birth of one whale, which is born tail first. A newborn baby, immediately after birth, rises to the water surface, where he takes his very first breath. The whales very quickly adapt to the new environment and begin to swim well and quite confidently. At first, the cubs stay close to their mother, which not only makes their movement easier, but also makes it as safe as possible.

The whales feed very often and attach themselves to the mother's nipple almost every quarter of an hour.. After sucking on the nipple, thanks to the contraction of special muscles, warm milk is independently injected into the baby’s mouth. Depending on the characteristics characteristic of the subspecies or species, different cetaceans produce different volumes of milk, which varies from 200-1200 ml in dolphins and up to 180-200 liters in a large blue whale.

The milk of cetaceans is very thick, creamy in color and approximately ten times more nutritious than traditional cow's milk. Due to the high surface tension, whale milk does not spread in water, and the lactation period can last from four months to a year and sometimes partially coincides with the female’s next pregnancy.

Whales are characterized by a highly developed parental instinct, which is why such large aquatic mammals never leave their young in danger. Even if a whale calf finds itself in shallow water at low tide and is not able to swim away on its own, its mother will definitely wait for the tide and take her baby to the safest, most comfortable place. Adult whales are able to bravely rush to the aid of harpooned calves, and try to drag their calves away from the ship. It was precisely this boundless devotion of adult whales that whalers very often took advantage of, luring large individuals to the ship.

This is interesting! Beluga whales are trainable whales that often perform in dolphinariums and circuses, so calves of this species are especially highly prized.

It is well known that whales are distinguished by a surprisingly touching attitude not only towards their calves, but also to any relatives. All representatives of the order Cetaceans almost never abandon their sick or wounded brothers in trouble, so they try to come to the rescue in any case.

If a whale is too weak and is not able to rise to the surface on its own to breathe air into its lungs, then several healthy individuals surround such an animal to help it float, after which they carefully support the relative afloat.

Blue whales are the largest animals on our planet: adults range from 24 to 30 meters in length, while females can exceed the size of males by up to 10 meters. In the XX century. they were almost completely exterminated due to commercial fishing. And only after a general ban on the destruction of whales did their numbers begin to gradually increase.

The upper part of the whale is a mottled blue-gray color, while the lower part is light gray or yellow-white. The yellowish tint of the animal's abdominal part is given by growths of microscopic unicellular seaweeds called diatoms. These plants are common in cold sea waters.

It is officially believed that the largest individual was a female, which was caught by whalers in the last century, 23 m 58 cm long. These animals can weigh up to 200 tons. For comparison, the weight of an African elephant is 7.5 tons. The heart of a blue whale is the size of a car, the beat of which can be heard 3 kilometers away. One of the species is the pygmy blue whale. They are three meters shorter than their larger relatives.

These animals have one incomparable quality: blue whales are the loudest animals on earth. The volume of their call signs reaches 188 decibels, which is significantly higher than the sound of a jet engine - 140 decibels. An animal can hear the song of a relative at a distance exceeding 1.5 thousand km.

In addition to their enormous size, the distinctive features of blue whales are a relatively small dorsal fin, a rounded part of the front of the skull and about 90 longitudinal grooves on the belly, reaching the navel.

Features of communication

Blue whales travel alone for most of their lives, sometimes in groups of 2-3 individuals. Large flocks, which may include 60 animals, have been recorded in places where food accumulates.

But there is one “but” here. The blue whale has the strongest voice of all animals, the low frequencies of which can spread in the deep-sea environment for many hundreds and even thousands of kilometers. Therefore, what may seem to people like “solo” sailing, in reality, is not so. Thanks to the ability for such negotiations, a solitary whale is often in close contact and communication with its relatives.

Nutrition

Whales feed by diving every 10-20 minutes to a depth of about 100 meters. The stomach can hold about one ton of krill at a time. Its requirement for krill is about 4 tons daily during the summer feeding season.


In the mouth there is a so-called “whalebone” of black color. These are horny plates hanging from the upper palate, 300-400 pieces each. from each side. The length of the plates ranges from 50 cm in front to 100 cm in the back. To feed, the animals straighten the “whalebone” in their throats and take in water with krill, sifting it through the horny plates. The water is then released through the baleen and the remaining krill in the mouth is swallowed.

Life cycle

The female usually gives birth to one kitten every two to three years. Currently, this birth rate exceeds the rate of destruction of animals during hunting, which continues to this day.

At birth, the baby whale is the largest newborn animal on earth: it is 8 meters long and weighs about 4 tons. In this case, the female’s pregnancy lasts a year, and usually one baby is born. The cubs grow at a rate of 90 kg per day. Childhood ends at 7-8 months, after the animal reaches 15 m in length and learns to swim independently. Animals reach maturity at 5–10 years.


The growth rate of the blue whale is also amazing and is the highest in the animal kingdom. In just a year and a half, the size of tissues increases several billion times.

Like other cetaceans, blue whales do not have teeth. Therefore, it can be difficult for scientists to determine the age of an animal. It is believed that their average lifespan reaches 50 years, some individuals can live up to ninety, and the oldest animal is considered to die at the age of 110 years.

Extermination of whales

Before the start of active whaling, the population of blue whales exceeded 250 thousand individuals. But in the 20th century. due to merciless hunting they were almost exterminated. Between 1904 and 1967, more than 350 thousand individuals were killed in the southern hemisphere alone. Many animals also died at the hands of Soviet whalers between 1960 and 1970.

The whales suffered especially hard in 1931, which marked the heyday of the fishery. This year, in just one whaling season, more than 29 thousand blue whales were killed. And only in 1967 the situation began to improve, when the world community stood up to protect animals, and whaling was banned.

Population today

Today, blue whales are distributed throughout the world. Their habitat includes all the world's oceans, with the exception of the Arctic Ocean. Blue whales are one of the most rarely seen species of cetaceans. Scientists still haven’t decided how many there are on earth. Their number ranges from 10 to 25 thousand.

One of the many populations of these animals that continues to grow at an encouraging rate is the population of whales that live in the North Pacific Ocean near the US state of California. The number of its representatives reaches 2 thousand.

This species, known as pygmy whales or pygmy whales, lives mainly in the Indian Ocean. Recent research suggests that these animals live in other areas of our planet.

Blue whales prefer to swim in deep ocean waters. In summer they migrate towards the poles, into cooler waters. In winter, the animals swim back towards the equator to warm waters to breed. Due to the fact that the seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres are opposite in time, populations of representatives living in different parts of the planet do not communicate or mix with each other.

Danger to whales

Most biologists have concluded that blue whales are the most endangered of all cetaceans. A serious danger for them is:

  • water pollution with chemicals;
  • a violation of the natural sound balance, due to which they are unable to find a mate;
  • loss of permanent habitat;
  • collisions with ships and entanglement in fishing gear.

Climate change could have a significant impact on food supplies, as global warming could shift the pH balance of seawater to acidic levels. This will affect the number of krill that the blue whale feeds on.

Due to climate changes in the frontal zones, the habitats of blue whales, there is a shift further south. In frontal zones, water can rise from the depths, bringing with it gigantic amounts of nutrients. This stimulates the growth of phytoplankton, and also creates conditions for the growth of populations on which the animals feed.

As a result of the migration of frontal zones over a distance of 200-500 km, blue whales are forced to migrate further to feed. Over time, such movements can significantly reduce the body's energy reserves and shorten the feeding seasons. As frontal zones move south, they reduce the areas where species of animals that provide food for blue whales can develop.

WHALES
(Cetacea)
an order of exclusively aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. The streamlined, often torpedo-shaped body gives them an external resemblance to fish. However, cetaceans are warm-blooded, breathe atmospheric air, bear a fetus in the uterus, give birth to a fully developed calf capable of independent existence, which the mother feeds with milk, and the remains of hair are visible on their body. According to these and some other characteristics, they are similar to other mammals, and the general plan of their structure also indicates that they belong to this class of animals. The body of cetaceans, round in cross-section, tapers towards the end and ends with a pair of wide caudal fins, flattened in the horizontal plane. These fins, although devoid of a bony skeleton (there is cartilaginous supporting tissue inside them), serve as the main organ that ensures the animal’s forward movement. The pectoral fins, or flippers, correspond to the forelimbs of land mammals; their carpal parts are not dissected externally, and sometimes are fused internally, forming spade-shaped structures. They serve as stabilizers, “depth rudders,” and also provide turning and braking. There are no hind limbs, although rudiments of pelvic bones have been found in some species. The neck is very short, since the seven cervical vertebrae common to mammals are greatly shortened and fused into one or several plates, the total length of which does not exceed 15 cm. The body of cetaceans is covered with smooth shiny skin, which facilitates gliding in water. Under the skin there is a layer of adipose tissue (blubum) ranging from 2.5 to 30 cm thick. Fat protects the body from hypothermia and helps retain water in the body that would otherwise diffuse into the environment; body temperature is maintained at approximately 35° C. Animals do not need fur, since the fat provides sufficient thermal insulation, however, in the embryonic stages and in adults, sparse hair can be found on the snout. The head is very large and wide. The neck is so shortened that outwardly the boundary between the head and the body is not noticeable. There are no external ears, but there is an auditory canal, which opens through a small hole in the skin and leads to the eardrum. The eyes are very small, adapted to life in the sea. They are able to withstand high pressure when the animal is immersed to great depths; large, fatty tears are released from the tear ducts, which help to see more clearly in the water and protect the eyes from the effects of salt. Nostrils - one (in toothed whales) or two (in baleen whales) - are located in the upper part of the head and form the so-called. blowhole. In cetaceans, unlike other mammals, the lungs are not connected to the oral cavity. The animal inhales air, rising to the surface of the water. Its blood is capable of absorbing more oxygen than that of land mammals. Before diving into the water, the lungs are filled with air, which, while the whale remains under water, is heated and saturated with moisture. When the animal floats to the surface, the air it exhales forcefully, in contact with the cold outside, forms a column of condensed steam - the so-called. fountain. Thus, whale fountains are not columns of water at all. In different species they are not the same in shape and height; for example, the fountain at the top of the southern right whale bifurcates. The exhaled air is forced through the blowhole under such strong pressure that it produces a loud trumpeting sound, which in calm weather can be heard from a great distance. The blowhole is equipped with valves that close tightly when the animal is immersed in water and open when it ascends to the surface. The cetacean order is divided into two suborders: toothed whales (Odontoceti) and baleen whales (Mysticeti). The former are considered less specialized; These include, in particular, beaked whales, sperm whales, killer whales, as well as smaller forms - dolphins and porpoises. Sperm whales reach a length of 18 m and weigh 60 tons; the length of their lower jaw reaches 5-6 m. The teeth of baleen whales are replaced by long fringed horny plates (whalebone), hanging from the upper jaw and forming a filter for filtering small crustaceans and fish from the water. This suborder includes minke whales, as well as blue, humpback, dwarf, smooth, bowhead and other whales. Some blue whales reach a length of 30 m. This animal is larger than even giant dinosaurs. It can weigh as much as 150 bulls or 25 elephants. Fossils of primitive whales, zeuglodonts ("jugular-toothed"), have been found in marine sediments of Africa, Europe, New Zealand, Antarctica and North America. Some of them were giants more than 20 m long. A whale can reach enormous sizes, since its limbs do not have to support the weight of its body: in water it is as if weightless. A large whale swimming at a speed of 20 knots (37 km/h) “generates” 520 hp of energy. With. Whales swallow food whole and consume up to a ton of food per day. The sperm whale's pharynx is very wide, so that it can easily swallow a person, but in baleen whales it is much narrower and only allows small fish to pass through. The sperm whale feeds mainly on squid and often feeds at depths of more than 1.5 km, where pressure exceeds 100 kg/cm2. The killer whale is the only representative of the order that regularly eats not only fish and invertebrates, but also warm-blooded animals - birds, seals and whales. Cetaceans have a very long intestine and a complex multi-chamber stomach, consisting, for example, of 14 sections in beaked whales, and 4 in right whales. The female gives birth to one calf under water. It comes out of her body tail first. The cub is fully developed and is almost immediately able to follow the herd. It suckles for approximately 6 months and grows rapidly, reaching sexual maturity by age three, although increasing in size continues until age 12. Most large whales breed once every two years. Despite their enormous size, these animals are not very durable. Science knows very few specimens of right whales older than 20 years. Herds of whales can commit something akin to mass suicide. Sometimes a hundred or more of their individuals wash ashore at the same time. Even if the suffocating animals are towed back to sea, they return to land. The reasons for this behavior have not yet been determined. Whales provide humans with many useful products. People have been hunting them since ancient times, and whaling existed before the 10th century. In addition to meat, whale oil (blub), which is used to make soap and cosmetic creams, is of great value. Ambergris is extracted from the intestines of sperm whales; this grayish substance is secreted there as a result of irritation of the mucous membrane caused by the horny jaws of swallowed squids. Pieces of ambergris weigh up to 13 kg, and the mass of its largest “nugget” is 122 kg. It contains sodium chloride, calcium phosphate, alkaloids, acids and the so-called ambrine; this substance is lighter than fresh and salt water, softens in the hands, melts at temperatures below 100°, and evaporates when heated more strongly. Ambergris was once highly valued as a perfume fixative. Currently, whaling is almost universally prohibited, since as a result of unsustainable mining, the whale population has greatly decreased and some of their species are on the verge of extinction. International agreements allow the capture and slaughter of individual specimens for scientific research. In addition, some peoples, such as the Eskimos, for whom whale hunting is one of the most important traditional activities, are allowed to continue it on a limited scale.
baleen whales
Baleen whales (suborder Mysticeti) got their name because of the long horny plates of the so-called. whalebone, located in their mouth instead of teeth. They hang from the upper to the lower jaw on both sides of the oral cavity perpendicular to the axis of the body. Each plate is a thin strip of approximately triangular shape, smooth on both sides. The outer edge is smooth, and the inner and lower edges are fringed with long bristles, forming a filter for straining small animals from sea water. Whalebone does not dissolve in water or natural acids and is never discarded. It consists of a strong and elastic substance, keratin, which forms the nails, claws and horns of land vertebrates. Not all baleen whales are giants, but they are all large animals, several meters long. However, the throat of any of their species is no wider than our fist. The largest baleen whales feed primarily on planktonic crustaceans, while some of the smaller members of the suborder feed primarily on schooling fish. All species have two nostrils, brought together into a blowhole, which is always moved far back, which allows the animal to breathe by only slightly raising the top of its head out of the water. When a whale opens its mouth to capture food, water does not enter its lungs, since the nasal passage leads directly to the trachea and is not connected to the pharynx. In the past, whalebone was highly prized; in the late 1800s, its price reached $7 per pound (453 g), and some animals could produce almost 1.5 tons of this product. It was used to stiffen bustles, bodices, collars and crinolines. After steel frames began to be used for all this, the trade in whalebone fell into decline. The suborder is divided into three families: gray whales, minke whales and smooth whales.
Gray whales (Eschrichtiidae). There is only one species in this family - the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) - a slate-gray animal up to 15 m long, whose range is limited to the coastal waters of the North Pacific Ocean. The head is relatively small, there is a small hump on the back instead of a fin, and there are 2-4 longitudinal grooves on the throat. Whalebone is yellowish in color, its plates are quite thick, 35-45 cm long. The body is often covered with rounded white spots - traces of sea acorns and other skin fouling.
The gray whale spends the summer in the coastal waters of the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and in the winter migrates south, reaching Mexico, Japan and Korea. It stays in shallow places, so that sometimes the water barely covers its back. It feeds on planktonic crustaceans, which abound in the northern seas in the summer months. Before releasing a fountain 3-3.5 m high, the animal makes trumpet sounds for 8-10 minutes. As with all baleen whales, the female is larger than the male. Both parents are very attached to their young, which are born in January. The newborn reaches a length of 4.5-5.5 m. He suckles his mother for 6-8 months, growing during this time to 7.5 m. Parents zealously protect their offspring and, sensing danger, can attack a boat and even a swimmer.
Minke whales (Balaenopteridae).
Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), also called the herring whale, is a large animal with a wedge-shaped head, a long slender body and a high dorsal fin moved far back; on its throat there are from 40 to 120 deep longitudinal folds. The body is grayish-brown above and white below. The length of the whalebone plate reaches 90 cm, and the entire body - 25 m. One fin whale, 23 m long, weighed 60,000 kg, of which approx. 8500 kg were bones, 475 kg were baleen, 1200 kg were tongue and 2700 kg were head and lower jaw. The species is distributed in all oceans and migrates in herds ranging from a few to more than 100 individuals. Migrations are seasonal: the fin whale spends the summer in the Arctic and Antarctic, and the winter in warmer seas. It feeds mainly on planktonic crustaceans, less often on schooling fish, such as herring. The fin whale does not have a specific breeding season. A 6 m long calf is born 10-15 months after conception; the mother feeds him for 6 months or longer. Life expectancy is 20-25 years. Sei whale, or saydian (willow) whale (Balaenoptera borealis), is similar in general features to the fin whale, but does not exceed 18 m in length. It migrates across the oceans, feeding on plankton and throwing conical fountains 2-2.5 m high into the air. The name “sei whale” was given to the species by Norwegian fishermen, since it usually appears in their waters simultaneously with pollock (seje). A close relative of the sei whale, the Bryde's minke whale, which is almost indistinguishable from it, lives in tropical seas. Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)- the smallest of the minke whales, i.e. whales with folds on the throat. Its color is blue-gray above and white below; A distinctive feature is a wide white stripe crossing the pectoral fins. Length up to 10 m; There are approximately 60 furrow-folds stretching from the chin to the chest. Whalebone is yellowish-white. Distributed more or less everywhere; often enters bays and bays. Humpback whale or humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), - a large animal with a dense, shortened body; the back and sides are blackish, and the color of the belly varies from black or mottled to white. The maximum length is approximately 15 m. An individual 14 m long can weigh over 40,000 kg and produce approx. 4000 liters of fat; the weight of the heart alone is approx. 200 kg. The length of the pectoral fins is more than a quarter, sometimes almost a third of the total body length, which is reflected in the generic name - Megaptera, i.e. "big fin" Their edges are uneven and lumpy. The flattened head ends in a snout rounded at the end, bordered by uneven rows of “warts” with a hair on each of them. The posterior edges of the caudal fin are also scalloped. There are fewer folds on the throat than the fin whale, and the distances between them are wider. The whalebone plates are blackish, up to 1 m long; there are ok. 400 on each side. Humpback whales can be found in all oceans. Its herds migrate with the changing seasons and depending on the amount of food, spending the winter in tropical waters. It feeds on planktonic crustaceans and small fish. Pregnancy lasts 11 months; The calf's body length at birth is 4.5 m, and its weight is approx. 1400 kg. Humpback whales often jump completely out of the water in a vertical position and fall back with a deafening splash, either while playing or trying to throw off barnacles. And sometimes they seem to “stand on their heads,” desperately beating the water with their huge caudal fins. However, this species is especially famous for the extensive repertoire of sounds it makes; Even recordings of his “songs” are sold. The whalers nicknamed him “Humpback” for the way he arches his back while “singing.”

Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)- the largest of all animals that ever existed on Earth. The female is always larger than the male and reaches a length of 30 m with a mass of more than 100 tons. The color is not blue, but rather bluish-gray with silver-gray spots of irregular shape. The belly is sometimes yellowish due to microscopic diatoms clinging to it. The small dorsal fin is strongly moved back; numerous throat grooves extend far into the belly. On each side of the mouth there are approximately 365 blue-black baleen plates up to 1 m long. The blue whale spends its summer near the pack ice in the polar regions of both hemispheres. It usually sails at a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h), and if necessary, twice as fast. Before a deep dive, the animal raises its huge tail fins into the air; it can remain underwater for up to 20 minutes. The height of the fountain reaches 6 m. The blue whale feeds on planktonic crustaceans, absorbing up to a ton of food for each “meal”. The baby is born 10-11 months after conception; The body length of a newborn reaches 7.5 m, and the weight is approx. 4 tons. The mother feeds him for 6-7 months. Blue whales reach sexual maturity in the tenth year of life.



Right whales (Balaenidae) characterized by the absence of grooves on the throat.
Greenland or polar whale (Balaena mysticetus)- an animal with a stocky, dense body; matte black color. Length reaches 18 m; more than a third is made up of a huge head, and the mouth, formed by giant arched jaws, can easily fit a bull. On each side of the oral cavity there are 360 ​​baleen plates, each 2-4.5 m long. In the past, the bowhead whale was hunted so intensively that it almost became extinct. This animal was an easy prey for whalers, as it moves at a speed of less than 13 km/h. The length of a newborn cub is 4-4.5 m; he stays with his mother for about a year.



Southern whale (Eubalaena glacialis)- a matte black stocky animal 14-15 m long (the head accounts for almost a third of the length). At the top of the snout there is a large horny growth, usually covered with whale lice. On each side of the mouth there are 250 plates of whalebone, sometimes more than 2 m long. The V-shaped fountain it creates is directed forward; it reaches a height of 4.5 m. The southern whale has always been a favorite prey of whalers, as it swims slowly, produces large quantities of high-quality blubber and whalebone, and in addition, its carcass floats well on the water, it is easy to notice and, having knocked it out, tow behind the ship. It was once common in the temperate and cold waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the seas of the Southern Hemisphere, but is now on the verge of extinction. Mating in the right whale occurs in the colder parts of its range, and the calf is born in temperate waters. The female feeds it for six months or longer. She is very attached to the cub and does not abandon him, even if her life is in danger. There are three known subspecies of the southern right whale: the Biscay whale (E.g. glacialis), which lives in the North Atlantic, the Japanese whale (E.g. japonica) from the North Pacific Ocean, and the Australian whale (E.g. australis) from the Southern Hemisphere. Some zoologists consider them to be separate species. The number of all three is very small due to centuries of barbaric fishing.



Dwarf whale (Neobalaena marginata)- the smallest and rarest of the baleen whales. It does not exceed 6 m in length. Special features include 17 pairs of very thin but wide ribs, a small head and a dorsal fin, which is absent in other right whales. Whalebone is white with a black outer edge. The pygmy whale is common in Australian and New Zealand waters, as well as off the coasts of South America and South Africa.
TOOTHED WHALES
To the suborder of toothed whales (Odontoceti) include cetaceans with teeth, either on the front of the lower jaw or on both jaws (in some species the teeth are not functional). Males are usually larger than females. The main food of almost all species is fish or squid. Unlike baleen whales, toothed whales have an unpaired nostril. Sperm whale (Physeter catodon)- the most famous of all whales. It is capable of diving to a depth of over 1.5 km, remaining there for an hour, and then emerging without, apparently, experiencing any special overloads. Males reach a length of 18-20 m; females are smaller, 11-13 m. One 13-meter sperm whale weighed 40,000 kg, of which 420 were in the liver, and 126 in the heart. The pectoral fins are short, and the dorsal fin has a thick, low hump. The sperm whale usually swims at a speed of 4 knots (7.5 km/h), and, if necessary, three times faster. The head, constituting a third of the total body length, is blunt in front and can be used as a huge battering ram; in the past, wooden whaling ships were damaged by such attacks. On the head there is a large fat pad filled with an oily liquid - spermaceti. The long (5.5 m) but narrow lower jaw bears from 8 to 36 pairs of strong conical teeth, each of which weighs approximately 1 kg. There are no more than 1-3 pairs of them on the upper jaw, and they are non-functional. The blowhole is S-shaped and shifted to the left front corner of the head. The sperm whale can be recognized by its short, wide fountain directed forward and upward. When a whale dives deeply or makes sounds, it raises its tail fins high into the air and goes vertically under the water. Fountains appear at intervals of approximately 10 s; the animal can remain on the surface for up to 10 minutes, making approximately 60 inhalations and exhalations during this time. The sperm whale is polygamous: a harem of up to 10-15 females follows the male along with sucklings. The father shows no interest in the offspring. There is no specific breeding season. Cubs up to 4 m long are born a year after conception and suckle their mother for 6 months or longer; During feeding, she turns on her side so that the baby can breathe normally. The sperm whale reaches its maximum size in the ninth year of life; lives, apparently, only 15-20 years. Its main food is squid and cuttlefish, which it catches at the bottom using its long jaws. Adult sperm whales consume up to a ton of food per day. Animals migrate in herds of thousands.



Dwarf sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) differs from the “simple” one in that it is small and, in comparison with the body, has a head rounded in front. The back and sides are black, the belly is lighter, the mouth is pink; the dorsal fin is sickle-shaped. The length of mature individuals is only approx. 4 m, weight approximately 400 kg. The lower jaw is narrow, with 8-16 narrow, pointed teeth on each side. This species also dives to great depths and hunts there for squid and cuttlefish. Distributed in the warm waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans; individual specimens were found ashore in the states of New York, New Jersey and California, Nova Scotia, Peru, the Netherlands, South Africa and Tasmania. Belukha (Delphinapterus leucas) characterized by a white or yellowish color; This species does not have a dorsal fin. Newborn beluga whales are grayish-brown; as they grow, they become variegated and finally completely lighten, except for the grayish-brown edging of the caudal lobes. Each side of the upper jaw bears 10, and the lower - 8 teeth. With them, the whale grabs and holds food, consisting of squid and fish. Adult males reach a length of 3.5-5 m with an average weight of 900 kg, although in some individuals it exceeds 1500 kg; females are somewhat smaller. The beluga whale has a circumpolar distribution and lives among icebergs and floating ice in the Arctic. In July, it enters some northern rivers, chasing salmon as they rise to their spawning grounds. The whale itself migrates in herds, which can include from several to a thousand individuals, although large aggregations of these animals are now rare. Sometimes a herd of beluga whales gets caught in the ice. In 1898, off Cape Barrow in Alaska, 900 beluga whales found themselves cut off from the open sea by pack ice and locked in a space 135 m long and 45 m wide. The Eskimos took advantage of this, killing hundreds of whales in a day. The beluga whale swims at a speed of 5 knots (9.5 km/h). It makes various sounds resembling whistles, roars, squeals and ringing bells, interspersed with chirps and clicks. This whale received the name “beluga” for its coloring. However, it is not related to the white whale from Herman Melville's famous book Moby Dick - it is about an albino sperm whale. Narwhal or unicorn (Monodon monoceros) has an unusual feature - a long (up to 3 m) ivory-colored tusk, helically twisted clockwise and protruding forward from the left half of the upper jaw. In principle, the young develop two tusks, but in males only one develops, while in females both remain hidden in the gum. As far as is known, the tusk does not serve as an offensive weapon; however, it may be used in fights for females. The body length of a mature narwhal is 3.5-4.5 m, and that of a newborn is approx. 1.5 m. The color of adult individuals is dark, with numerous yellowish-white spots, but old whales are also almost white. The muzzle is rounded; no dorsal fin. Narwhals are inhabitants of the Arctic Ocean and the northern part of the Atlantic, although there are cases when they swam to the shores of England and Holland. When the sea freezes in winter, the males use their tusks to make holes in the ice crust; At such holes you can see beluga whales along with narwhals. When the animal emerges, air escapes from its blowhole with a piercing whistle. Narwhals also make low sounds, reminiscent of mooing, which are believed to be used by the mother to call her calf. The food of these whales consists of cod, salmon, rays, halibut, flounder, gobies, shrimp, cuttlefish and other sea animals, which they swallow whole. Narwhal meat is eaten by Eskimos, who also use their fat for their lamps and their intestines for making ropes and fishing rods. Beltteeth (Mesoplodon) reach an average length of 4.5-6.5 m. The snout is elongated into a tapering rounded beak. The head is small, narrow; the dorsal fin is small, moved far back. One of the distinguishing features is a pair of grooves on the throat. Belly teeth lead a more or less solitary lifestyle. They are often found in warm waters of both hemispheres. Their main food is squid and cuttlefish. In the males of one of the species - the belt tooth True (M. mirus) - the teeth are located at the very end of the lower jaw, and in the female they are not visible at all. The Antillean belttooth, or Gervais' whale (M. gervais), reaches a length of 6 m. The male Atlantic belttooth, or Sowerby's whale (M. bidens), has two very large teeth on the lower jaw. True beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) much larger and more massive than belt teeth. The body length of mature males reaches 8.5 m. At the end of the lower jaw there is a pair of thin conical teeth. The eyes are quite large for cetaceans. The color is black, brown or grayish depending on gender and age; Over the years, the color of the head becomes lighter. The dorsal fin is strongly shifted back. As is often observed in whales that feed on squid and cuttlefish, the sides and head of the beaked whale are usually covered with scars and scratches from wounds inflicted by these animals. Beaked whales migrate from the Arctic to the Antarctic in groups of 30-40 individuals. There is little information about their lifestyle. They are known to remain underwater for more than half an hour. Judging by the scars on the body of the males, fierce battles take place between them for the females. Tasmanov's beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi) It received its scientific name from the Tasman Sea, where it was first discovered, and from the ancient Greek word “ketos” - whale. Almost nothing is known about this species, except that it has ca. 90 functional teeth, of which the two front teeth on the lower jaw are bulbously swollen. Northern swimmer (Berardius bairdi)- the largest representative of the beaked whale family, reaching a length of 12 m in adulthood. It has a small dorsal fin and a well-developed beak; the back and sides are black, and the belly is gray. On each side of the lower jaw there are two large teeth embedded in cartilaginous covers. The sounds made by this whale resemble the roar of a bull. Highbrow Bottlenose (Hyperoodon ampullatus), a species of beaked whales. Adults reach a length of 10.5 m and produce almost a ton of fat. A high frontal protrusion with a fat pad containing spermaceti almost hangs over the short, wide beak. Mature males have a white spot on their forehead. Breeding season is in April or May; the only cub is born a year after conception. Of the two pairs of teeth located at the end of the lower jaw, all adult females and many males retain only one. The high-browed bottlenose lives in the Arctic in summer, and in winter migrates south, to the latitude of the Mediterranean Sea. A closely related species, the flat-faced bottlenose (Hyperoodon planifrons), lives in Antarctica. Bottlenose fish migrate in large herds, often several hundred individuals, and dive to great depths in search of their favorite food - squid and cuttlefish.
see also