Whales
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Whales are marine mammals and belong to the order Cetacea. They include the largest living animal on the earth, the blue whale. Whales commonly include Killer Whales or Pilot Whales but they are actually dolphins. For centuries whales have been hunted for meat and as a source of valuable raw materials. By the middle of the 20th century, large-scale industrial whaling had left many species seriously endangered.
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55 imagesThe Beluga, or White Whale, also known as the Sea Canary due to its high-pitched twitter, Delphinapterus leucas, is one of two unique members of the cetacean family Monodontidae, and the other is the Narwhal. Belugas inhabit cold waters of an Arctic and sub-Arctic Oceans. They grow up to 15 ft (5 m) in length and have unmistakable white body color with unusually protruding melon heads.
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2 imagesBlainville's Beaked Whale or the Dense-beaked Whale, Mesoplodon densirostris, belongs to the widest ranging mesoplodont whales, also known as the "beaked whales" and perhaps the most documented among them. The name "densirostris" means "dense beak" in Latin.
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18 imagesThe False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens) is a cetacean, one of the larger members of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae). It lives in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world. As its name implies, the False Killer Whale shares characteristics such as appearance with the more widely known Orca ("killer whale"). Like the orca, the False Killer Whale attacks and kills other cetaceans. However, the two dolphin species are not closely related. The False Killer Whale has not been extensively studied in the wild; much of the data about it has been derived by examining stranded animals. The species is the only member of the Pseudorca genus. Although not often seen at sea, the False Killer Whale appears to have a widespread, if rare, distribution in temperate and tropical oceanic waters. They have been sighted in fairly shallow waters such as the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea as well as the Atlantic Ocean (from Scotland to Argentina), the Indian Ocean (in coastal regions and around the Lakshwadweep islands) and the Pacific Ocean (from the Sea of Japan to New Zealand and the tropical area of the eastern side), and also in Hawaii. The total population is unknown. The eastern Pacific was estimated to have in excess of 40,000 individuals and is probably the home of the largest grouping. The false killer whale and a dolphin have mated in captivity and produced a fertile calf.[3]. This is apparently the first mating between two different species that has produced fertile offspring, i.e., without postzygotic barriers. This offspring is called a 'Wolphin'.
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741 imagesThe humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, is perhaps one of the most recognizable and popular whales among the public simply due to its easier accessibility as they migrates to coastal waters, and of course, its spectacular breaching behavior. The humpback whale is a baleen whale which has brush or bristle like plates in their mouth for filter-feeding food instead of teeth. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from 40-50 ft (12-16 meters) and weigh approximately 79,000 lb (36,000 kilograms ). The humpback whale has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the water. Males produce a complex whale song, which lasts for 10 to 20 minutes and is repeated for hours at a time. The purpose of the song is not yet clear, although it appears to have a role in courtship and mating. Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to 15,000 miles (25,000 kilometers) each year. Humpbacks feed only in summer, in polar waters, and migrate to tropical or sub-tropical waters to breed and give birth in the winter. During the winter, humpbacks fast and live off their fat reserves. The species' diet consists mostly of krill and small fish. Humpbacks have a diverse repertoire of feeding methods, including the spectacular bubble net feeding technique Like other large whales, the humpback was and is a target for the whaling industry. Due to over-hunting, its population fell by an estimated 90% before a whaling moratorium was introduced in 1966. Stocks of the species have since partially recovered; however, entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, and noise pollution also remain concerns. There are at least 70,000 humpback whales worldwide. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, humpbacks are now sought out by whale-watchers, particularly off parts of Australia and the United States.
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35 imagesThe Pygmy Killer Whale, Feresa attenuata, is a small, rarely-seen cetacean of the oceanic dolphin family Delphinidae. It derives its common name from the fact that it shares some physical characteristics with the orca or "killer whale" and it is the smallest species referred to as a "whale" in it's common name. In fact, "killer" may be a more apt name in the case of the Pygmy Killer Whale than its larger genetic cousin. When a number of Pygmy Killer Whales were brought into captivity in Hawaii and South Africa they were extremely aggressive--even killing one another. Despite its name and features, the pygmy killer whale is not closely related to the orca. The scientific species descriptor attenuata is Latin for 'tapering' and refers to the gradual narrowing from the head to the tail fin of the dolphin.
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68 imagesThe Short-finned Pilot Whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus, is one of the two species of cetacean in the genus Globicephala. It is part of the oceanic dolphin family Delphinidae, though its behaviour is closer to that of the larger whales. Short-finned Pilot Whales can be confused with their relatives the long-finned pilot whales, but there are various differences. As their names indicate, their flippers are shorter than those of the Long-finned Pilot Whale, with a gentler curve on the edge. They have fewer teeth than the Long-finned Pilot Whale, with 14 to 18 on each jaw. Short-finned pilot whales are black or dark grey with a grey or white cape. They have grey or almost white patches on their bellies and throats and a grey or white stripe which goes diagonally upwards from behind each eye. Adult males may have a number of scars on their bodies. Their heads are bulbous and this can become more defined in older males. Their dorsal fins vary in shape depending on how old the whale is and whether it is male or female. They have flukes with sharply pointed tips, a distinct notch in the middle and concave edges. They tend to be quite slender when they are young, becoming more stocky as they get older.
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17 imagesThe Sperm Whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order cetacea, a toothed whale (odontocete) having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in its head and originally mistaken for sperm. The sperm whale is the only member of genus Physeter. A bull can grow up to 20.5 metres (67 ft) long. It is the largest living toothed animal. The head can take up to one-third of the animal's length. It has a cosmopolitan distribution across the oceans. The species feeds on squid and fish, diving as deep as 3 kilometres (9,800 ft), which makes it the deepest diving mammal. Its diet includes Giant squid and Colossal Squid. It is the largest living predator and possibly the largest ever, not in terms of its taking animal matter (which is true of all cetaceans, including the larger baleen whales) but in that it actively preys on self-functioning animals. The sperm whale's clicking vocalization is the loudest sound produced by any animal, but its functions are uncertain. These whales live in groups called pods. Pods of females and their young live separately from older males. The females cooperate to protect and nurse their young. Females give birth every three to six years, and care for the calves for more than a decade. Over most of the period from the early 18th century until the late 20th century, the sperm whale was hunted to obtain spermaceti and other products, such as sperm oil and ambergris. Spermaceti found many important uses, such as candles, soap, cosmetics and machine oil. Due to its size, the sperm whale could sometimes defend itself effectively against whalers. As a result of whaling, the sperm whale is currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. The sperm whale has few natural predators, since few are strong enough to successfully attack a healthy adult, however orcas attack pods and kill calves. The sperm whale can live for more than 70 years.