Some Interesting Facts About Whales
The main characteristic of falling into the mammal category is having mammary glands. Humans and whales both have these glands. So you say many animals have these glands, but do they have a four chambered heart? There are other ways to differentiate mammals but these are a couple main ones.
They are very intelligence and love to play. They perform water activities that captive audiences if they are fortunate enough to be around to see it. When you go to Sea World and watch the dolphins jumping out of their pools that is called breaching. Well a dolphin is a type of whale also. We think they have been trained to do this but in fact this is fun for them. The only thing we are training them is to do it when we lift our hand. Another thing they will do during a show is called spyhopping where they lift only their heads up and twirl around. Again we are only telling them when to do it but they are doing something that comes naturally to them.
Although not as impressive as when you see the larger cetaceans doing it in the ocean, they will perform the act of lobtailing. This is when they lift their tails up in the air and then slap it down hard sometimes spraying water all over their audiences. In the open ocean this might be a type of warning system but for the dolphins at Sea World it's a way to get another treat.
Their way of communicating is through what we would call a song. The song may be part of a mating ritual or a way for them to determine what lies ahead. Remember they are swimming at the deepest depths of the ocean, where there is no light. The sounds that they make reflect off of objects like an echo and so they can determine if they are getting too close an object. Their songs can last up to 30 minutes.
There are two types of whales the toothed and the baleen. The toothed type include the Orcas, dolphins and Sperm. Yes dolphins are another type. The baleen type are the larger ones like the Humpback and the great Blue.
The toothed whales have peg like teeth. They don't chew their food but use their teeth to grip food. They eat fish, invertebrates and smaller marine mammals. The baleens have plates which help them filter their food. They usually eat by swimming along the water's surface with their mouths open, small fish, plankton and krill are trapped in the course bristles of the plate giving them a small meal for the day.
About the Author
For nearly 50 years Natsuko Nakamura, who lives on the East Coast of Japan, has been watching
whales and gathering
facts about whales.