Blue whale animal or fish. Is a whale a fish or a mammal? Interesting facts about whales. Order Cetaceans and its representatives

Humanity began to ask the question of who a whale is, a fish or an animal, long before the formation of modern natural sciences. As the largest of all creatures living under water, this giant simply could not help but delight everyone who had the chance to see it.

Is a whale a fish or an animal?

Of course, today, thanks to modern knowledge about the structure of cetaceans and their origin, it is no longer difficult to give an exact answer to this question that has tormented man for so long. So, who exactly is he? This is a mammal whose ancestors once upon a time, for certain reasons, returned from land to water. What forced them to do this - whether it was competition from other animal species, or a sharp decrease in food in their habitat - is not known for certain. However, in the end, they found a new home for themselves there and, having successfully adapted, over time evolved into the form under which we know these creatures today.

Of the land animals currently living on the planet, the closest relatives of cetaceans are hippos, which are indeed similar to them in many respects in behavior and mutual love for water.

Cetaceans - general facts

In their family, whales are its only representatives. However, the same dolphins and porpoises also belong to marine mammals. What makes it possible to distinguish whales into a separate family? The main differences are as follows:

• Unlike fish, warm-blooded cetaceans. Therefore, to maintain core body temperature, they need a very thick subcutaneous fat layer.
• Second feature lies in the inability of whales to obtain oxygen directly from the water. To replenish its supply, they need to periodically rise to the surface.
• All cetacean mammals. And although the process of feeding babies with milk has undergone changes during evolution, its essence has remained the same.

The cetacean family is divided into three groups:

The whale is the largest living mammal. Its adult specimen can easily reach 25 meters in length. It weighs on average from 90 to 110 tons. These animals inhabit almost all the oceans of the Earth, however, due to their warm-blooded nature, they are prone to frequent migrations. They prefer to wait out cold winters closer to the tropics.

Based on skin color, whales are divided into blue and gray. The gray ones are presumably more ancient. Judging by some of the remains of these animals, their representatives inhabited the planet about 30 million years ago. Then they were distributed almost throughout the globe; Nowadays, gray whales are mostly seen in the North Pacific Ocean. They prefer to live in small groups of several individuals. There are also solitary whales, but this is rather an exception. Whales have incredibly strong family ties and communication with other members of their species is very important to them.

Blue whales are larger in size than gray whales, as well as any other mammal on the planet. With their size, they are a living reminder of those giants who once inhabited the land. They are not very fond of people, preferring to stay away from the coast and remaining mostly in the open ocean. As befits such a giant, the blue whale is quite slow. The average speed of its movement is about 10 km/h, however, if the animal is threatened, it can increase three times.

The number of animals has reached critically low levels many times. Often the reason for this was a person who mercilessly exterminated them for their valuable meat and fat. But the very specifics of cetacean reproduction do not contribute to the rapid restoration of population numbers. Offspring, as a rule, are born no more than once or twice a year. In this case, the female gives birth to only one kitten; sometimes it happens that there are two. The duration of pregnancy can vary from 9 to 18 months depending on the subspecies.

Naturally, with such vulnerability, the female protects the cub like the apple of her eye. The cubs also grow very quickly - after just six months they can already reach 14 meters in length and weigh up to 25 tons. Puberty in whales occurs when they reach the age of five, but a whale is considered truly adult only at 15 years of age.

What does a whale eat?

So what do whales eat? Their diet is highly specialized and depends entirely on the species. They can be planktivores and eat plankton, teutophages and eat shellfish, ichthyophages (use fish as a food source) and sacrophages (eat algae). Animals swallow their prey whole, without preliminary chewing. Toothed whales either grab it and hold it with their teeth, or use their tongue to suck in several fish at a time. Baleen whales pass large portions of food through a filter called "baleen". The only representative of cetaceans that regularly feeds on warm-blooded animals is the killer whale.

Whales are very peculiar mammals, which, due to their constant life in water, are more like fish. This group of animals has a characteristic appearance and at the same time has achieved significant diversity. Whales form a separate order of Cetaceans, but this term is a collective one. Usually this word refers to large species; small cetaceans have other names (dolphins, porpoises).

Humpback whale, or humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).

The most striking distinguishing feature of these animals is their size. Indeed, all species of whales are simply giants of the animal world. Even the smallest species (dwarf sperm whales, for example) reach a length of 2-3 m and a weight of 400 kg, and most species have a length of 5-12 m and a weight of several tons. The largest species, the blue whale, reaches a length of 33 m and weighs 150 tons! It is several times larger than even the largest dinosaurs. The blue whale is the largest living creature ever to inhabit our planet!

All species of whales are characterized by an elongated, streamlined body, a very short, inactive neck and a large head. The size of the head can vary greatly between species: in small whales it is 1/5 of the body length, in large baleen whales its size can reach 1/4, and in the sperm whale the head makes up 1/3 of the body. Based on the structure of their teeth, whales are divided into two suborders: baleen and toothed. Baleen whales have no teeth at all; they are replaced by giant horny plates that hang in the mouth like a fringe. They are called whalebone.

Baleen in the mouth of a whale.

Toothed whales have teeth, their shape and size vary between species. The structure of the jaws can also be different: in baleen whales the lower jaw is much larger than the upper and is similar to a ladle; in toothed whales, on the contrary, the upper jaw is larger or equal in size to the lower one. Such differences are associated with the nature of the diet of these animals.

The difference in size of the upper and lower jaws is clearly visible on the head of a humpback whale.

The brain size of whales is relatively large, but this is primarily due to the development of the parts of the brain responsible for hearing. Whales, like dolphins, have perfect echolocation abilities; they emit sounds of various frequencies and use their reflection (echo) to navigate in space, find food and communicate with each other. Just like dolphins, whales are susceptible to an unknown pathology - they can periodically wash ashore. The animals do this unconsciously (the ability of whales to commit suicide is nothing more than a stupid prejudice), but with such persistence that scientists are still puzzling over the reason for such strange behavior. Animals washed ashore are not always old or sick; moreover, sometimes, through the efforts of rescuers, they can be returned to the sea. Most likely, the root cause of such death is disruptions in the operation of the echo sounder caused by numerous radio sources (all modern navigation uses powerful sources and repeaters of radio waves). Such electromagnetic “noise” in the ocean confuses the giants and they approach the shores; moreover, accustomed to trusting their feelings, the whales stubbornly strive in the “right” direction until they run aground. Other sense organs in whales are poorly developed: the sense of smell is in its infancy, and vision is also rather weak.

On the top of the head there is a breathing hole - a blowhole. In more primitive baleen whales it consists of two openings (“nostrils”), in toothed whales there is only one opening. Interestingly, during exhalation, moist air from the lungs creates a kind of fountain, and its shape depends on the type of whale.

A blowhole with two nostrils on the head of a gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus).

The limbs of whales are arranged in a very unusual way. The front ones have turned into flattened fins, and their size can vary greatly among different species. For example, the fins of belted teeth and sperm whales are small, and they reach their greatest development in the humpback whale.

The long fins of a humpback whale resemble wings underwater.

But whales have no hind limbs at all; in their place in the lumbar spine there are only two small bones to which the muscles of... the genital organs are attached. The driving force in the whale's body is created by a powerful twin tail, but these are not modified hind legs, as some believe.

The powerful tail is used by whales for movement and protection.

The coloration of whales is varied, but discreet. More often, their body has a dark upper side and a lighter lower side; some species (Bryde's minke) may have clearly visible stripes on the underside of the head. Species such as the blue whale, gray whale, and sperm whale are uniformly gray or brown in color.

The beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) gets its name from its rare white skin color.

Whales are widespread throughout all oceans (and some seas) of the globe. They are found only in deep waters; as a rule, they do not enter bays, river mouths and similar shallow waters. Whales usually move freely across the ocean, but their movement is not chaotic. Each whale species has favorite breeding grounds that they visit during certain seasons. The rest of the time, whales fatten up, but do this in areas remote from their breeding grounds. Thus, whales migrate with a cyclicity of 1 year. When feeding, whales swim at a speed of 10-20 km/h, but in case of danger they switch to a cruising speed of 50 km/h. Adult males and non-breeding females stay alone, females with cubs, as well as all animals during the breeding season form herds of 5-15 individuals. There is a peaceful atmosphere inside the herd: the whales have no internal hierarchy, they do not show aggression towards each other, in case of danger, all members of the herd try to defend themselves with common efforts, there are even cases of mutual assistance to wounded brothers. In general, whales, with their huge size and clumsiness, give the impression of stupid and uninteresting animals. But this is a false idea! These peculiar animals are endowed with developed intelligence and are not inferior to dolphins in intelligence. For example, there are cases when whales showed interest in the underwater photographers who were filming them - the animals approached people and even tried to play with them in their own way, pushing them to the surface. Another example: whalers tracked down a female whale with her calf and killed the latter. The whale carcass was transported to the cutting site in tow. All this time, the female swam nearby and tried to remove the corpse of the cub from the rope. Captive whales in captivity quickly get used to people and are able to perform tricks (to the best of their physical capabilities). Like all highly developed animals, whales love to play, while they jump high out of the water and beat their tails loudly.

Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata).

Whales feed on a variety of marine animals, and there is a narrow specialization in the nutrition of different species. Baleen whales eat exclusively plankton - the smallest sea crustaceans. They extract it by filtering large volumes of water. To do this, the whale opens its mouth and takes water into its mouth...

Humpback whales use their open mouths as a scoop.

then with his tongue, like a piston, he pushes the water out of his mouth - the water flows freely through the whalebone, but the crustaceans remain.

A whale strains water with plankton.

Toothed whales feed on fish, which they also catch not individually, but in whole schools. Sperm whales specialize in catching deep-sea fish and shellfish (mainly squid). Many whales make long dives for hunting; they can stay under water for up to 1.5 hours. The record holders for diving depth are sperm whales, which were encountered at a depth of 1 km!

Whales are very infertile animals. Females reach sexual maturity at 7-15 years, males only at 15-25. Moreover, each individual participates in reproduction no more than once every 2 years. In the mating ritual of whales there is not only no aggression, but also any kind of struggle at all. Male whales attract the attention of females with their songs! Whale voices are surprisingly delicate for animals of their size. Each species of whale has its own set of sounds, but even individuals of the same species differ in the tone of their voice. The whale's song resembles a melodic moan and sounds very loud. According to divers, when a whale sings, the water around it vibrates. Female whales can mate with several males, since there is no struggle between representatives of the stronger sex, selection occurs in a very unusual way. It turns out that the gonads of whales are enormous (in the sperm whale, for example, up to 10-20% of body weight) and are capable of producing large amounts of sperm. Thus, among several males mating with one female, the one whose hormonal status is higher wins. Pregnancy in various species lasts 11-18 months. The female gives birth to only one calf, but it is large and developed. For example, the weight of a newborn blue whale is 2-3 tons. The calf is born tail first and, with the help of its mother, rises to the surface for its first breath. The mother often feeds the cub with very rich milk, due to which it grows quickly. The lactation period of whales is relatively short - 5-7 months. During this time, the cub manages to grow 2 times, then its growth slows down sharply. For another 1.5-2 years, the cub accompanies the mother, using her protection. In small and medium-sized whales, young animals are kept in herds until they reach sexual maturity, and sometimes later. Whales live 50-70 years.

Baby blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus).

It would seem that nothing could threaten such gigantic animals in this world. In reality, whales are very vulnerable to various dangers. In the ocean, whales have no enemies except... their own brothers. Killer whales (giant predatory dolphins often called whales) attack other species of cetaceans. Killer whales live in groups and act collectively, so even adult whales can hardly resist their coordinated attack, and the calves are completely defenseless. When attacked, whales try to escape by “flight”, swimming away from the herd of killer whales at high speed. If it was not possible to break away from the pursuit, the whale tries to fight off the attackers with strong blows of its tail, the mother swims under the calf from below, trying to cover it with her body.

But even in the absence of predators, whales have enough problems. Sometimes these animals experience... hunger. Massive fishing, global warming, and changing sea currents undermine the food supply of whales and animals can drift for several weeks in “barren” waters. Researchers have encountered extremely emaciated animals. In the Arctic Ocean, whales often become trapped in ice. Since whales breathe air, they are forced to surface regularly to replenish their supplies. If there are no suitable polynyas around, whales break through the ice with their heads, but they do not always succeed. When the ice is thick (or the opening is small), entire herds of whales suffocate under the ice.

Minke whale in Antarctic ice.

To top it all off, whales are actively hunted by people. Despite their impressive size (or rather, because of them), whales are attractive prey for fishing. There are no useless parts in a whale carcass; everything is used: fat (blub), meat, baleen, teeth, skin. Sperm whales are suppliers of very exotic products - spermaceti and ambergris. Spermaceti, despite its name, is not whale sperm at all, but a fat-like substance from the brain. Ambergris is found in the intestines and has a pleasant smell, which is why it got its name. Both substances are very valuable raw materials in the cosmetics industry and are extremely highly valued on the world market.

As a result of the impact of unfavorable factors, the number of almost all species of whales has greatly decreased, many species are on the verge of extinction. In this regard, the World Convention on the Prohibition of Whale Fishing was adopted (especially since whaling products have lost their relevance in our time). The only country that has not signed the convention is Japan. Japanese whalers still carry out mass fishing of all whales indiscriminately, justifying themselves by the fact that whale meat... is a traditional component of Japanese cuisine. On the other hand, tourism in whale breeding grounds has gained wide popularity. Nature lovers visit such places on small boats; queues line up to tour operators for the opportunity to watch whales live and hear their songs. Attempts to keep whales in captivity run into many obstacles: large species of whales cannot be kept due to their size, baleen whales cannot be fed with plankton, and catching an adult whale without killing it is very difficult. Repeated attempts to catch the cubs led to the death of the babies even at the transportation stage. Only the smallest species of whales (beluga whales, pilot whales) take root in aquariums, but they do not breed there. Perhaps the only way to preserve these unique animals is a widespread ban on their hunting and comprehensive protection of water resources.

The carcass of a beached blue whale is being cut up for further scientific research.

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.

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. Externally, whales are very similar to fish, but they are not fish, but mammals that live in the water. It is believed that the ancestors of whales were land animals from the order Artiodactyls, which switched to an aquatic lifestyle approximately 50 million years ago.

Since whales are mammals, they are characterized by the main characteristics 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 skin without hair. This body surface provides whales with better gliding in the water. Whales have a thick layer of fat under their skin that keeps whales from freezing in cold water. The head of whales is large - in the blue whale its length reaches almost a third in relation to the entire length of the body. The eyes are very small and there are no ears, but whales are not deaf - behind the eyes they have small auditory openings leading to eardrums. Acute hearing is important for whales, as it allows them to navigate well in the water.

Whales belong to the order Cetaceans. This order is divided into three suborders - toothed whales, baleen whales and ancient whales (ancient whales are completely extinct).

Spreading

Whales live in all oceans and 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).

Nutrition

The feeding methods of whales are different and depend on which suborder the whale belongs to - toothed or baleen.

Toothed whales have sharp teeth that allow them to successfully hunt large squid and large fish. The killer whale can hunt not only fish, but also seals, birds and other marine life.

Baleen whales do not have teeth, but have special whiskers located on the upper jaw. Through these special plates, whales filter water and extract plankton from it - small crustaceans, which are the main source of food for baleen whales. Some baleen whales feed on small schooling fish, filtering them out of the water, just like plankton.

Lifestyle

A female whale usually gives birth to one calf every two years. He is well developed and can swim immediately. For the first few months, the baby whale feeds on its mother's milk and grows very quickly. The milk of a female whale is thick and nutritious, its fat content reaches 54%.

A whale is considered an adult at about three years of age, but its body can increase in size until about 12 years of age.

Brief information about whales.

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!