Whale photos in good quality. Whales are underwater giants. Amazing and interesting facts about whales. Beautiful photos and videos
Whales are one of the most amazing mammals that inhabit the waters of our planet. These animals are the largest of all known to mankind today. Moreover, the ocean has still not been fully explored, which is why scientists periodically discover new species of toothed whales, usually small, but still there. today has led to the fact that whale species are constantly decreasing, as well as their population, which is very sad.
Classification
All whales are divided into two large groups, so-called suborders. Although it is worth noting that scientists distinguish three suborders. One of them is ancient whales. All representatives of this group have long since died out, and there is no particular point in describing them. We will talk about animals that still swim in the oceans and seas, although there is a threat of their extinction.
One of these suborders is baleen whales. In addition, they are often called “real whales.” The second suborder is toothed whales. Smaller representatives, which include dolphins and porpoises, but more on that later. I would like to note that different types whales are being destroyed. In particular, this applies to those who have the greatest value in the fishery. This is a blue whale, fin whale, humpback whale, etc.
Types of whales: list, brief description
We will start with the largest and most ancient. This includes a wide variety of whale species that are worthy of your attention. It’s easy to guess that you can recognize such an animal by the whiskers in its mouth. By the way, whalebone is also valued, so these animals often become the prey of poachers. The largest representative of this suborder is the blue whale. The largest recorded individual reaches a length of about 30 meters and weighs 150 tons. Moreover, these are completely peaceful animals, whose diet mostly consists of plankton and mollusks.
The bowhead whale is a prominent representative of the baleen whales. The length of this giant sometimes reaches 20 meters, the body of the animal is black, without stripes. It is noteworthy that the head makes up approximately 30% of the total length of the whale. It lives exclusively in the Arctic seas. Today it is an almost extinct species that is extremely rare. The reason for this was whaling.
Dwarf and right whales
The southern right whale is somewhat similar to the bowhead whale both in appearance and size. Therefore, an inexperienced person can confuse them. Although it is easy to guess that the habitat of the animals is very different. Southern right whales are not found in the Arctic seas, just as bowhead whales are not found in the temperate zone of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. From about the 10th century AD, whaling for right whales only expanded. Today, these animals are fully protected, judging by the latest data, the reproductive trends of the genus are positive.
All types of whales, a list of which you can see in this article, are amazing and unique. Take, for example, the pygmy whale. It was called that because of its small size. Typically, individuals do not grow more than 6 meters in length. But if you do not take this parameter into account, then otherwise the animal is no different from its relatives.
Endangered whales
The gray whale family is one of the most exterminated at present. These are quite large representatives, 15 meters long, without a dorsal fin. In the 18th century, the population numbered approximately 30 thousand individuals. As a result of active whaling, the number of gray whales dropped to 250 individuals by 1947. After this, the family of gray whales was taken under permanent protection; today there are about 6 thousand of these animals.
It is impossible not to mention the minke whale family. These include humpback whales and true minke whales. Both are endangered whale species. If back in the 30s of this century there were approximately 250 thousand fin whales in Antarctica, today this figure is five times less. Of the 100,000 that once lived in Antarctica in the 1930s, by 1962 only 1,000-3,000 individuals remained alive. The situation is approximately the same with sei whales and humpback whales, which are under constant protection. The largest representative of the striped whales is the blue one. He is the only species of whale that leads a nomadic lifestyle.
Toothed whales: types and description
The suborder of toothed whales includes a large number of families What they have in common is the presence of teeth, although their sizes and number may differ significantly. Almost all representatives have small sizes bodies. The only exception is the sperm whale. Of course, oceanic dolphins are the most famous of the suborder of toothed whales. Most of them are small animals.
The easiest way is appearance identify a white whale. This can be done by the color of his skin. small, usually up to 5 meters. They are found almost everywhere. Sometimes these whales swim to places where they cannot live. It is impossible not to highlight the only representative of the narwhal genus - the narwhal. They are somewhat similar to white whales. True, narwhals have a 2-2.5-meter tusk on their heads, which is characteristic only of males. The length of the animal is about 5 meters.
Porpoises and dolphins
So we come to the dolphin subfamily. It should be noted that it includes a large number of species and even more subspecies. Only about half of the whales known today. For example, a common brown dolphin or simply a porpoise is usually no more than 2 meters in length. The back of the animal is black, and the belly is almost white. Dolphins for the most part prefer warm waters and temperate latitudes. They often swim far up rivers. Interestingly, a special race of porpoises lives in the Black Sea.
The following species of porpoises live in different parts of the seas and oceans:
black featherless, etc.
Californian;
In all species, the differences are insignificant, as are the sizes. In general, although the animals are predatory, they are very peaceful. Studies have shown that some species of whales and dolphins have highly developed brains. What makes dolphins truly amazing is their ability to communicate - echolocation. This is a kind of language, most of the sounds of which are still incomprehensible to humans today.
Genus of sperm whales
As noted above, sperm whales are the real giants among all toothed whales. Animals can reach approximately 20 meters in length. These are gregarious whales that can be found in all the oceans of planet Earth. The exception is females and young whales, which prefer to stay in warm waters. Today it is not a fully explored species. In particular, it is unknown whether males return from their long-distance migrations. Scientists still have not figured out why they swim so far, although the most likely theory is that they are looking for food. Commercially, the sperm whale is very valuable. This became especially noticeable in the years after the Second World War. Near the coasts of Chile and Peru, these animals, in particular the females, were practically destroyed, which seriously threatened the population. Even today, toothed whales are hunted and exterminated in all the oceans of the world. Animal species are of no particular importance to humans.
Conclusion
Here we have looked at the main types of whales. The names of these animals were assigned by more than one people of the world and not only in the 21st century. Unfortunately, even today there is active fishing. How many species of whales are left today? About 40, and this despite the fact that before there were more than a hundred of them. It is one thing when this process is controlled, and quite another when there is uncontrolled capture and destruction.
Of course, we can talk endlessly about the fact that insulin and other hormones are extracted from the whale’s brain, and vitamin A from the liver. In addition, the meat is used to make expensive sausages. But all this can be found in nature without destroying different kinds whales and without reducing their population. Well, that’s all that can be said about whales and the diversity of their species. For the most part, these are calm animals that rarely attack humans.
A whale is a marine mammal belonging to the phylum Chordata, order of Cetaceans. Whale is translated from Greek as sea monster.
Description of appearance
It’s hard to imagine, but the ancestors of all species of whales are artiodactyl animals that lived on land. Externally, a whale looks like a fish, but today the closest animal to it is a hippopotamus. Whales and hippos have the same ancestors who lived on Earth 54 million years ago.
The whale is considered the largest mammal on the planet. Its weight and size depend on the species. The largest size and weight of blue whales is 33 m and 150 tons. The smallest parameters are for the dwarf species - 4-6 m and 3-3.5 tons.
The whale is warm-blooded; it can maintain a constant body temperature regardless of external conditions. A significant layer of fat helps prevent hypothermia. The normal body temperature of a whale is considered to be 35-40° C.
Breathing occurs with the help of the lungs. To breathe air, the whale must rise to the surface. Whales can stay underwater for 10-40 minutes, and sperm whales can stay underwater for 90 minutes.
The air that these animals exhale has a higher temperature than the surrounding air. Because of this, a fountain is formed, which is a column of condensation, the parameters of which depend on the species.
The body of the whale has the shape of a drop, this contributes to the least resistance of water when moving.
The powerful head is completed by a narrow, blunt or, on the contrary, pointed beak - rostrum. The nostrils (blowholes) are located closer to the parietal region. The whale has small eyes compared to its body - only 10-17 cm in diameter. The weight of eyeballs is no more than 1 kg.
The anatomical structure provides for teeth, but in some species of whales they are not developed; instead, they have bone plates (baleen). Toothed species have cone-shaped teeth of the same size.
The vertebral column of a whale consists of 41-98 vertebrae. The skeleton is elastic and has a spongy structure. This contributes to the ability to make maneuverable and flexible movements.
Whales do not have a neck as such; the head immediately passes into the body, tapering towards the tail. Instead of pectoral fins there are flippers. With their help, the animal can turn and brake.
The flattened tail is flexible and muscular. At its end there are horizontal blades. Many species of whales have an unpaired fin on their backs to stabilize their body position when moving.
Whale skin has no hairs. Only baleen species can boast short single hairs similar to vibrissae.
Whales can be solid, spotted or 2-colored. Selected species change the color of their skin as they grow older.
Whales have poorly developed senses of smell, taste, and vision. Whales are the only animals in the animal kingdom that have a conjunctiva. Whale hearing is well developed. They also have an excellent sense of touch. Whales do not have vocal cords, but this does not pose a problem in communicating with each other. They can produce a special sound.
Whales move quite slowly, but can reach speeds of up to 40 km/h. Whales live on average 30 years, but some species live up to 50.
Whale habitat
The habitat of whales is all four oceans. These animals live in herds. Groups of whales can number thousands of animals. Some species migrate seasonally.
Diet
All cetaceans, with the exception of killer whales, prefer to feed on plankton, various mollusks, fish, and decomposed organic matter.
Killer whales eat, in addition to fish, various pinnipeds, other cetaceans, and dolphins.
Types of whales
Today, biologists divide all cetaceans into two groups: baleen (toothless) and toothed whales. The latter include dolphins, killer whales, sperm whales, and porpoises. Below are photos of large whales.
The 38 genera of cetaceans include more than 80 species. The most popular are humpbacks, grays, blues, bowheads, pygmy whales, sperm whales, fin whales.
How whales reproduce
Almost all cetaceans are monogamous. A female whale gives birth to a calf once every 2 years. Childbearing age begins at 3 years of age, and full physical maturation occurs by 12 years of age.
Whales have a long mating season. The female carries the baby for 7-18 months - this depends on her species.
Childbirth occurs in summer period. Some species migrate to warm waters to breed.
A whale can only give birth to one calf at a time. Its weight is 2-3 tons, and its length is 2-4 times less than its mother’s. Feeding occurs in the water column for 4-7 months. The sperm whale feeds its calf for 13 months. Whale milk is very fatty and contains many calories.
The economic importance of cetaceans for people has long been great. Whale oil was used to make glycerin, soap and margarine.
The spermaceti substance contained in the head of the sperm whale is used in cosmetology. Whalebone was used for corsets.
The production of insulin is based on the secretion secreted by the pancreas of whales. It is also used to produce other medicines. Ambergris extracted from whales is used by perfumers.
Uncontrolled whaling has driven many species to near extinction. Today, whales are in the Red Book and their killing is prohibited by law in many states.
Photos of whales
The longest, heaviest, loudest animals on our planet are whales. They are the ones with the biggest brains. They make the longest and most distant migrations. Some of them may not sleep for three months and “fast” for two thirds of the year.
The whale is a typical warm-blooded mammal. But at the same time, it is the strangest of all mammals. Its body is fundamentally no different from the body of terrestrial mammals, such as a cat or a cow. Although, of course, his organs received a specific development under the influence of the environment
They breathe air through their lungs, are warm-blooded, feed their young with milk from their mammary glands, and have some (albeit fairly minor) hair.
The tongue of a blue whale, which weighs up to 4 tons, can accommodate about 50 people. The heart of a blue whale, the size of a small car, weighs 600-700 kg and pumps about 8 thousand liters of blood through vessels the diameter of a bucket. In 1 second, a blue whale inhales approximately 2 thousand liters of air; in total, the lungs of this giant can hold up to 14 cubic meters of air.
Whales can go without sleeping for three months, without eating for eight months, without breathing for up to two hours, and at the same time overcome gigantic distances of up to several thousand kilometers.
Whales suffer greatly from the noise in the world's oceans that people make.
And humans are the only mammals capable of singing. Whale "songs" are mostly low cooing sounds, and humpback and right whales produce a series of repeated sounds of varying pitches and durations in a certain sequence.
The decision of the International Whaling Commission established World Whale Day in 1986, when a ban on whaling was imposed.
Whales were killed, among other things, to obtain baleen - the horny plates on the upper jaw of toothless whales. With the help of a baleen (up to 800 pieces per whale), animals sift the water, filtering out their main food - plankton. A baroque corset required about a kilogram of whalebone.
Whales constantly listen because they have no sense of smell and poor vision. Sound gives whales the ability to navigate, communicate with each other and feed, although the exact purpose of the sounds produced by whales has not yet been clarified.
The eye of large whales weighs about a kilogram. Very small, sea-adapted eyes can withstand high pressure When an animal is immersed to great depths, large, fatty tears are released from the tear ducts, helping to see more clearly in the water and protecting the eyes from the effects of salt.
Every day, an adult blue whale consumes about a million calories. The animal's menu includes approximately a ton of krill
- small crustaceans. In general, whales eat small fish, cuttlefish and plankton. They can also swallow large fish; once two 3-meter sharks were found in the stomach of a 16-meter sperm whale.
Female whales carry their babies for 11 months, the “babies” are born about 7.5 meters long and weigh 2-3 tons, while the whale egg is no larger than a mouse egg.
Amazing and interesting facts about whales. Beautiful photos and videos.
Guess which mammal lives the longest? The champion of longevity is the humpback whale, which lives in the icy Arctic waters. According to Science Magazine, among all whale species, this species can live more than 200 years. (Photo of whale #1)
One of the largest animals that has ever existed on Earth are toothless whales, including the largest animals, their representative is the blue whale, whose length reaches 30 meters and weighs 200 tons. (Whale photo #2)
Heart blue whale It is the size of a passenger car. And the heartbeat of a whale can be heard at a distance of up to 3000 meters. (Whale photo #3)
The mouth of a blue whale can comfortably accommodate up to 100 people. The blood arteries of blue whales are so large that they can easily pass a basketball through them. (Whale photo #4)
The blue whale ranks first among all screamers on earth. Not a single animal in the world can outshout this big guy. The blue whale can produce sounds louder than a jet engine, reaching a level of 188 decibels, but the engine produces a sound only at 140 decibels. (Whale photo #5)
No matter where in the world they are found - in Chile, the United States or Egypt - and no matter what age evolutionists assign to them, the fossils clearly show that whales have always been whales, with their own unique characteristics. They show up suddenly in the fossil record, fully capable of ocean life and with no transitional forms from their supposed land-based ancestors. (Whales photo No. 6)
Another amazing fact from the life of underwater giants. A group of scientists in 2013, while chasing a small pod of sperm whales, witnessed the amazing behavior of sperm whales. They found a small school in the coastal waters of Chile, their bodies suspended in the water in a completely vertical position. Only the heads of the sperm whales touched the surface of the water. They were all asleep! These whales slept in the strangest way of any animal on Earth. In this position, the whales slept for only 12 minutes. Sperm whales recover with short-term sleep several times a day. (Photo of whale No. 7)
Video of sleeping sperm whales. Amazing sight!
A team of scientists led by Dr. Pyenson conducted a CT scan of the whale's jaw. They found fibrocartilaginous tissue inside the animal connecting the left and right halves of the lower jaw, endowed with nerve endings and a blood network. Pyenson notes, "We believe that this whale sensory organ sends information to the brain to coordinate the animal's complex feeding mechanisms while afloat." This whale organ records "the dynamic rotation of the jaws as the mouth opens and closes" and "gives the brain necessary information to coordinate the initiation, modulation and final stages of absorption." It also “probably helps minke whales sense the density of prey accumulation before the ingestion process begins.” Thus, it seems that this organ of the animal plays an important role in ensuring that when the whale releases enormous energy during the feeding process, it does not damage its mobile jaws.” (Kit photo No. 8)
