Whales living, living in the oceans. They belong to the class of mammals. The name itself “whale” comes from Greek “Kitoc”. The literal translation means “sea monster”. It was proved that as a result of evolution, they descended from greenhouse mammals. Whales are amazing and unique animals.
- Description and characteristics of whales
- Types of whales
- Humpbacked whale (longarmed strip)
- California or gray whale
- Greenland or Polar Kit
- Sperm whale
- Blue or blue whale
- Finval
- Dwarf or smooth whale
- Beluha
- Killed
- General characteristic features of whales
- Whales habitat
- What whales eat
- How many whales live
- Propagation of whales
- The most interesting facts about whales
Description and characteristics of whales
Whales are characterized by gigantic body dimensions. Of course, the length and weight of different species are different. For example:
- Blue whale is the length of the body 33 meters, and the weight is 150 tons
- Dwarf whale-5-6 m, weight about three and a half tons.
They belong to warmblooded animals. The temperature of their body is unchanged (from about 35 to 40 degrees). The presence of whales in a large layer of fat saves them from hypothermia.
Keiths breathe with the help of lungs with elastic muscles. Thanks to this, they have an air exchange of approximately 90% during an breath-senior (if compared with a person, then he is only 15 percent). Due to this, the whales calmly plunge into the water for 20-40 minutes, and the sperm whale, having made an air sip, can be at a depth of about an hour and a half. Therefore, when the whales rise to the water surface, then the air exhausted by them is condensed. This contributes to the formation of a fountain. Large species of animals produce a fountain under strong pressure, a loud rumble. It spreads to a distance of several kilometers.
Types of whales
Humpbacked whale (longarmed strip)
Kita was called so because of a convex fin on the back, which looks like a hump.The body of hunchbacked whales can have a length of 14.5 to 18 meters, and they weigh on average 30 tons. Distinctive features of hunchbacked whales:
- Short torso;
- A variety of coloring;
- At the top of the head are warty protrusions.
Humpbacked whales live in almost all parts of the oceans. They are not only in the Antarctic, as well as in the Arctic. They eat fish and crustaceans.
California or gray whale
The length of the body in gray whales can be from 13 to 15 meters, and weight lies within 14-35 tons. The females have a larger length than males. The color of the body is brown-gray or dark brown. These whales are the only ones who get food at the bottom of the ocean. They have outgrowth in the form of keel under the lower part of the jaw. Gray whales push them silt and take out worms, mollusks and other living creatures from under him. Habitat: the northern seas, in winter migrate to the south of Japan. These whales can overcome more than 12,000 kilometers in the migration period.
Greenland or Polar Kit
This unique mustachioed whale is attracted by the very cold waters of the northern part. Polar whales have been living for more than 40 years. The body of males can be about 18 meters long, and females up to 22 meters. Fountains in whales 6 meters high. Adult Greenland whales weigh about 150 tons and can eat about two tons of food daily. The skin of whales is gray or dark blue.
Sperm whale
The sperm whales have a giant head, and on the side of their muzzles are similar to a oblique rectangle. Sama whales reach a length of 20 meters, and weigh almost 50 tons. In the jaws of the sperm whale there are teeth in the form of cones. Each tooth weighs almost a kilogram. The color of the skin of the sperm whale is dark gray with blue. It is covered with wrinkles. The sperm whale is a predator. It feeds on large fish, squid, karakatics, sometimes swallows sharks. Podimally have the ability to plunge to great depths and be in the water for a long time. The sperm whales populate the entire world ocean, but prefer a tropical climate. The mouth of the sperm whale is very large. There were cases when they swallowed kitobo people.
Blue or blue whale
This whale is the largest whale in the world, as well as the largest animals on planet Earth. The weight of the whale is about 150 tons, and the body length is 33 meters. His body has an elongated shape, and his face is rather narrow. The color of the body is gray-blue with spots over the entire surface of the body. Keith’s skin resembles marble. The main food of the blue whale is plankton.
Finval
A distinctive feature of Finvals is an asymmetric color in the face. On the left, the jaw in the lower part has a dark color, and the right has white color. Finvals weigh from 40 to 70 tons. A slender body has a length of 25-27 meters. They feed on crustacean individuals. Winter is carried out in a moderate warm belt, and when it becomes warm, migrated to Antarctic and Arctic.
Dwarf or smooth whale
The sizes of the whale are relatively small. In adult whales, the length is only 4-6 meters, and weigh within three and a half tons. The skin of a dwarf whale of gray with dark spots, but there are also black whales. They move in waves, eat plankton into food. This is a very rare species that lives only in the waters of New Zealand and Australia.
Beluha
The animal was called the color of the body. The weight of the whale of the Beluha is relatively small, it can be within two tons, and the length of its body is about six meters. It is interesting that the cubs of the Belukha at birth have a dark blue color, then it becomes light gray, and in adults it becomes white. Beluha has a small head and a rather high forehead. She does not have a fin on her back, and the fins on her chest have the shape of ovals. Beluhi have a very good hearing and the ability to echolocation. Life expectancy of whales-bleach for about 40 years. Belukhi mainly live in the Arctic, but also perform seasonal migrations.
Killed
A distinctive feature of the killer whale is a high dorsal fin, the height of which is more than one meter. The body of the killer whale has a length of ten meters, and the weight is about 8 tons. Killed these are swift and active predators. They can develop speed within 55 km/h. They feed on killer whales, sea lions, seals, walruses. Killed have a strong attachment to the cubs and to each other and mostly live in herds.
General characteristic features of whales
- Whales have a dropshaped body shape. It allows you to experience the least resistance from the water from the side during swimming.
- The heads of animals are massive and ended with stupid and narrow formations similar to the beak. The nostrils are shifted to the crown of the crown. Smell of smell in whales is absent.
- Whales do not have a neck, the head smoothly connects to the body, which, when moving to the tail, is narrowed.
- In the thoracic region of whales there are flippers with which whales rule, turn and slow down.
- A muscular and flexible tail, having a flattened shape, works like a motor. The tail is equipped with blades located horizontally. Many types of whales have a spooning spoon, which is a stabilizer while driving in water.
- In the ratio with the body, the size of the eyes is small: with a diameter of 10 to 17 centimeters. In largesized species, the weight of the eye can weigh almost one kilogram. The vision of whales is weak. Despite the fact that the body is equipped with conjunctic glands, they do not see.
- Toothy whales have a coneshaped teeth. In the toothless types of whales, the teeth are replaced by bone plates.
- The skeleton has a spongy structure, and the spine discs have elasticity. Due to this body of animals, maneuverable and plastic. The number of vertebrae can be 41-98.
- The skin of whales is mostly smooth, in the face of the muzzle there are single bristles.
- The body has a plain color, sometimes spotted or dark in the upper part, and below light. There are such types of whales in which the body color changes as the age increases.
- Whales have very weak taste. They only feel the taste of salt.
- Whales hear sounds of only low frequencies close to ultrasound, but they have excellent touch.
- Whales do not have vocal cords, but they have an echolocation organ that allows you to make sounds. The bones of the skull, having a concave shape, play the role of a reflector receiving ultrasonic signals.
- Whales move mostly slowly. But they can develop speed from 20 to 40 kilometers per hour.
Whales habitat
Whales live in all oceans of the globe. They mainly prefer a herd lifestyle. Animals are combined into large groups. The quantitative composition ranges from several tens to a thousand or more animals in the group. But the largest whales can live alone.
There are types that migrate. This is due to changes in weather conditions. When winter occurs, whales move in the area with warm waters. There they often give birth to children. Upon the onset of the summer season, they prefer to be in places with a temperate climate.
Whales swim close to the surface of the water, because they need air for breathing. They are immersed to a depth of 500 meters.
What whales eat
The main food of whales is plankton (small organisms that live in the upper layers of the water layer). In their diet, racches of different species prevail, which are collected by large packs.
Possessing a huge mouth, whales swallow a large volume. Mollusks, fish and other individuals are delayed with water.
The animal mobble belongs to whaling views. She eats in addition to fish, animals like guinea pigs, seals, penguins, dolphins. She can eat even another whale.
How many whales live
There are a large number of different types of whales. There are more than 80 of them. Small whales, respectively and live less up to about 30 years. Largesized whales can live 100 years or more.
Propagation of whales
Most whales are monogamous and cubs are born for two years once. Когда китам исполняется 4-5 лет, то они уже становятся способными к размножению. But complete physical maturation occurs only by 12 years. Mating lasts almost a whole year.
Females of whales wear cubs of 7-18 months (the term depends on the type). Whales that do not migrate, give birth in the summer. In other types of whales, offspring is born in warm waters.
In females, one baby is always born in female whales. She gives birth in a water thickness. It turns out the tail part and its length is almost half the size of the female body. And its weight is approximately equal to two or three tons.
Kitty kids can immediately swim themselves, but still do not sail far from the mother. The female always works maternal instinct.
Whales of their cubs in water. Milk in females has a fat content of about 54%, it does not even spread in water. Moms feed their children for about seven months, and sperm whales thirteen months. After completing feeding with mother’s milk, the cubs increase in the amount of half their length.Throughout the entire time, while the female feeds the baby Kit constantly near her family and does not leave her.
The most interesting facts about whales
- In a blue whale, the weight of the tongue is four tons. It is so huge that if you imagine that people can stand on it, then about fifty people will fit them
- After death, whales explode. This is because internal decomposition and formation of gases that produce toxins arise. Often dead whales throws ashore. Internal pressure is much larger than atmospheric, as a result there is an explosion.
- Whales can do without sleep for a hundred days and without food for about ten months.
- You can’t find even two whales with the same tails. Each whale has its own individual tail, just as each person has his own special fingerprint.
- When whales plunge to great depths, then rather fat tears begin to roll from their eyes. They are designed to protect the eyes from salt and help them see better.
- A substance called spermatzet is extracted from the head of the sperm whale. It is added to cosmetics: cream and lipstick.
- The largest heart in the animal world has a blue whale. Its weight ranges from 650 to 700 kilograms. The diameter of its vessels is approximately equal to the diameter of a tenliter bucket. About 8,000 liters of blood circulates daily through the vessels.
- Ambra is mined from the intestines of sperm whalers, which is used in the perfumery industry as a stabilizer of aromas.
- Of all types of whales, Greenland whales have the largest life expectancy. They live for about two hundred years. A whale of this species was registered, which lived 211 years.
- When the whale plunges to a great depth of about 3.5 kilometers, there is a slowdown in the rhythm of its internal organs. The heart makes only ten blows per minute.