Wikipedia tells us this about whales:
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetacceans, but more it excludes dolphons and peopoises, which belong to the suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales). The suborder includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and buuga whale.The other cetaccean suborder, Mysticeti (baleen whales), Comprises filter feeders who eat small organisms caught by straining seawater through comblike structure found in the mouth called baleen. This suborder includes the blue whal, the humpback whale, the bowhead whale and minke whale. All cetacceans have forelimbs modified as fins, a tail with horizontal flukes, and nasal openings (blowholes) on the top of the head.
But I like whales because they are:
- Huge!
- Friendly
- Can hold their breath for a long time
Whale Anatomy
There are some key parts to the whale's anatomy that I think are interesting.
- Blowhole: Whales breathe via blowholes; baleen whales have two and toothed whales have one. These are located on the top of the head, allowing the animal to remain almost completely submerged while breathing. Breathing involves expelling stale air (which is warm and moist), as well as some mucus and excess water from the blowhole, forming an upward, steamy spout, followed by inhaling fresh air into the lungs. Spout shapes differ among species, which facilitates identification.
- Ears: The whale ear has specific adaptations to the marine environment. In humans, the middle ear works as an impedance equalizer between the outside air's low impedance and the cochlear fluid's high impedance. In aquatic mammals, such as whales, however, there is no great difference between the outer and inner environments. Instead of sound passing through the outer ear to the middle ear, whales receive sound through the throat, from which it passes through a loe-impedance fat-filled cavityto the inner ear. The wah;e ear is acoustically isolatedfrom the skull by air-filled pockets, which all for greater directional hearing underwater.
Pictures!
killer whale jumping out of the water - Whale jumping out of water