Representatives of the class of mammals - whales - are marine animals that amaze with their impressive size. In Greek, the meaning of the word kitoc is “sea monster”, from which the name of this mammal comes from. At a time when fishermen had just begun to notice such a large creature as a whale, there were frequent disputes about whether it was a fish or an animal. Surprisingly, the ancestors of all cetaceans are artiodactyl land animals. Although the whale looks like a fish in appearance, one of its modern ancestors is a hippopotamus. Despite all these facts, debate continues about what whales are - fish or mammals.

Whale - description and characteristics

The size of whales exceeds the dimensions of any mammal: the body length of a blue whale reaches twenty-five to thirty-three meters, its weight is more than one hundred and fifty tons. But there are also smaller, dwarf whales. Their weight does not exceed four tons, and their body length is six meters.

All cetaceans have a body shaped like an elongated drop, which allows them to glide easily in the water column. The large head with a narrow and blunt rostrum allows the whale to cut through the water when swimming. The nostrils are shifted closer to the crown, and the eyes are small relative to the body. Different individuals have differences in the structure of their teeth. Toothed whales have sharp cone-shaped teeth, and baleen whales, instead of the usual teeth, filter water and thus obtain food using bone plates (or whalebone).

The whale's skeleton provides special plasticity and the ability to perform maneuvers due to the spongy structure and elasticity of the intervertebral discs. The head goes into the body without a neck interception; towards the tail the body becomes narrower. The mammal turns and slows down with the help of flippers, which have been transformed from pectoral fins. The motor function is performed by the tail, which is distinguished by its flat shape, extreme flexibility and developed muscles. At the end of the tail section there are horizontally arranged blades. Many whales use their tail to stabilize their movements underwater.

Hairs and bristles grow only on the faces of baleen whales; the body is covered with absolutely smooth and hairless skin. The color of the animal's skin can be monochromatic, anti-shadow - dark top and light bottom, or spotted. As whales age, they can change the color of their skin. Cetaceans lack olfactory receptors and also have poorly developed taste receptors. The whale can only distinguish the taste of salty foods, while other mammals have a full range of taste buds. Poor vision and frequent myopia are fully compensated by the conjunctival glands. Mammalian hearing distinguishes sounds ranging from muffled noises to ultrasonic frequencies, due to the complex anatomical structure of the inner ear. There are a large number of nerves under the skin, which provides the animal with an excellent sense of touch.

Whales communicate with each other using echolocation. The absence of vocal cords did not prevent the whale from communicating with other individuals by producing sounds. The role of a reflector and a sound lens is performed by a layer of fat in the concave bones of the skull. Whales have slow, smooth movements, but sometimes their speed can reach forty kilometers per hour.

The body temperature of a whale does not depend on the environment; these are warm-blooded animals. A thick layer of fat protects cetaceans from hypothermia. Huge lungs with well-developed muscles allow animals to spend under water from ten minutes to an hour and a half. Swimming to the surface of the ocean, the whale releases air whose temperature is much higher than the surrounding air. That is why, when exhaling, a fountain appears - a sheaf of condensate, and along with it, due to the high power, a trumpet roar breaks out in some large animals.

Lifespan. How long do whales live?

The question of how long whales live can be answered differently depending on their species. Small animals live up to thirty years, the lifespan of large whales does not exceed fifty years.

The habitat of whales is the world's oceans. Mammals are scattered across all latitudes, but in cold weather most migrate to warm waters and live near the coast. These are herd animals that prefer to live in groups with several dozen or hundreds of individuals. Whales migrate depending on the season. In winter and during the birthing period, whales and their females swim to warm waters, and in summer they are in waters of temperate or high latitudes.

A whale's diet depends on its species. Plankton is preferred by planktivores; mollusks act as food for teutophages. Ichthyophages feed on live fish; detritivores consume decomposed organic matter. Killer whales are the only cetaceans that hunt not only fish, but also pinnipeds such as seals, penguins and sea lions. Dolphins and their offspring can also become victims of killer whales.

Types of whales

The largest representative of the mammal family is the blue whale. One hundred and fifty tons of weight and a length of thirty meters give the blue whale the right to be considered the largest animal on the planet. The narrow head and slender body allow the mammal to move smoothly under water, cutting through its thickness. The skin has the appearance of marble stone thanks to the gray spots scattered throughout the blue body of the whale. The blue whale lives in every ocean and feeds mainly on plankton and small fish. Blue whales prefer to live and move alone. The size of the blue whale attracts poachers and scientists to it.

The blue whale dives into deep water in moments of fear or injury. Whalers, using harpoons, measured the maximum depth to which the animal descends - five hundred and forty meters, although during a normal dive a whale does not descend into water deeper than one hundred meters. After a deep dive, the mammal makes a series of surfacings in order to inhale air. The length of the blue whale makes it dive and emerge rather slowly. The animal spends three quarters of its life under water. The blue whale reproduces more slowly than other cetaceans: calves are born no more than once every two years. During one birth, only one baby is born, and the pregnancy period itself is very protracted.

The animals were practically exterminated in the last century, so now scientists are trying to increase their numbers. Today, the number of blue whales across the planet does not exceed ten thousand individuals. Poachers destroy blue whales because of the value of their baleen. It has a rich pitch black color and a triangular shape. The fringe located on the baleen plates allows the whale to feed on large crustaceans and small plankton.

The songs of an animal like the blue whale are considered very depressing. The blue whale lives about eighty to ninety years, the maximum recorded age of the animal is one hundred and ten years.

Because of the convex hump-shaped fin on the back, one of the whale representatives was called humpback. The animal has a short body - at least fourteen meters, while its mass is about thirty tons. The humpback whale differs from other species in the form of a variety of skin colors and the presence of several rows of warty, leathery growths on the top of the head. The body color of the mammal can vary from brown to dark gray and black, the chest and belly are covered with white spots. The upper part of the fins can be completely black or covered with light spots, the bottom is completely white. The animal has long pectoral fins, the mass of which makes up a third of the whale's total weight. Humpback whales have individual growths as well as coloration.

This mammal lives in the waters of all oceans, excluding the areas of Antarctica and the Arctic. Migration of the humpback whale can be either localized or seasonal, depending on the availability of food or ocean water temperature. Animals do not choose specific areas to live, but prefer to be near the shore, in shallow water. During the migration period, whales enter deep waters, but usually stay near the shores. At this time, mammals hardly eat, feeding on reserves of subcutaneous fat. Crustaceans, mollusks and small fish make up the diet of the humpback whale in the warm season. Groups of these animals quickly disintegrate. Only mothers and cubs can swim and hunt together for long periods of time.

The humpback whale is known for the sounds it makes. During the breeding season, males make long-lasting sounds, reminiscent of melodic songs, attracting females. Scientists who became interested in these sounds, through research, were able to determine that the songs of the humpback whale, like human speech, consist of individual words that form sentences.

The pygmy whale is considered the smallest species of cetacean. Its mass does not reach three tons, and its body length does not exceed six meters. This is the only whale that moves in waves. The dwarf whale has a streamlined body with a gray or black color with gray spots. The animal’s head is completely free of any growths, the pectoral fins are very short, have a rounded shape, and the sickle-shaped dorsal fin does not exceed twenty-five centimeters in height. Unlike blue, the dwarf whale has a white baleen with a yellowish tint.

Scientists provide little information about the lifestyle of this animal, as it is rare. The dwarf whale does not jump out of the water and does not raise its tail fin above its surface. The fountains that he releases when exhaling are not striking in their size and are not accompanied by a hum. The mammal can be distinguished by its light gums and a white spot on its jaw. The dwarf whale swims rather slowly, bending its body in waves.

The mammal leads a solitary lifestyle, but sometimes it can be seen in groups of sei whales or minke whales.

These whales are rarely found in the open ocean; they often swim in shallow bays. During the warm season, young pygmy whales move to coastal waters. Animals do not migrate long distances. Plankton, crustaceans, and invertebrate marine animals serve as food for dwarf whales. This is the rarest and smallest species of cetacean.

One of the representatives of cetacean mammals is the beluga whale. The name of the animal comes from its color. Beluga whale calves are born with dark blue skin, which then changes to light gray, and adults are pure white. The animal is distinguished by a small head with a high forehead. The beluga whale can turn its head because its cervical vertebrae are not fused. Most whales do not have this ability. The animal has no dorsal fin, and the small pectoral fins are oval in shape. Because of these features, the name of the mammal is translated from Latin as “wingless dolphin.” Thirty to forty years is how long these whales live.

These whales live in Arctic latitudes, but migrate seasonally. Beluga whales spend summer and spring off the coast, in areas for molting and feeding. During the molting season, whales rub in shallow water against sea pebbles, thus trying to shed their old skin. Every year the beluga whale visits the same places, remembering the place of its birth, where it returns after wintering. In winter, whales live in glaciated zones, breaking through thin ice with their powerful backs. But at moments when ice holes are covered with a thick layer of ice, beluga whales can become captured by ice. The danger comes from polar bears and killer whales, for which beluga whales can become food. Whale migration takes place in two groups: one contains several females with calves, and the second contains adult males. Communication between individuals is carried out using sound signals and clapping of fins in the water. During the study of beluga whales, more than fifty types of sounds that it makes were counted.

Mating of whales takes place on the coast, several times a year. Males can organize tournament fights for a female. During birth, one baby whale appears, which the female feeds for one and a half to two years.

One of the brightest cetaceans is the sperm whale. Unlike other whales, sperm whales prefer a gregarious lifestyle, moving and hunting in groups of hundreds of individuals. Their speed does not allow sperm whales to move quickly through the water column. The sperm whale is known for its ability to dive deep underwater and stay at depth for a long time. The large content of fat and fluids in the sperm whale's body provides it with protection from water pressure. The mammal stores its air supply in the air sac and muscles containing a large amount of myoglobin. In rare cases, the animal has caused accidents with deep-sea cables. The sperm whale got entangled in the cable with its tail and lower jaw and choked, this was discovered already during the repair of the cable. A sperm whale was recovered off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula after it became entangled in a cable located at a depth of more than two thousand meters. At the same time, the whale uses echolocation, emitting ultrasound, which not only allows it to communicate with other sperm whales, but also to scare away dangerous animals. High-frequency signals block the movements of other ocean inhabitants, which makes it easier for the sperm whale to hunt them.

This mammal has been exterminated for several centuries, which is why its numbers have sharply declined. In conditions of polluted ocean waters and continued fishing, sperm whales are very slowly restoring their population. When wounded and attacked, the animal shows great aggression, so hunting it involves great risk. A wounded sperm whale is capable of sinking a whaling ship along with its entire crew. What does a whale eat? It eats small crustaceans, mollusks, squid, octopuses, and small sharks. To grind food, the sperm whale swallows small stones. This whale is the only mammal in whose mouth a person can completely fit. During whaling ship accidents, sperm whales swallowed whalers.

Many researchers are still arguing about whether the killer whale is a whale or a dolphin. Although the killer whale is called a killer whale in the media and in the everyday life of whalers, this animal belongs to the dolphins. This animal is confused with a whale because of the shape of the fin: dolphins have sharp, long fins, while killer whales have rounded and wide fins.

Mating and reproduction of whales

The whale is a monogamous animal that reproduces once every two years. The mammal fully matures by the age of twelve, but it becomes able to reproduce by the age of four. Males mate throughout the whole year, so the mating season is very long. Pregnancy depends on the species of cetacean and can take from seven to fifteen months. To give birth, females migrate to warm waters.

As a result of the birth, one whale appears, which emerges from the female with its tail first. The born baby immediately has the opportunity to move and develop independently, but it stays near its mother for some time. The baby whale is fed underwater, because whale milk has a high density and high fat content, as a result of which it does not spread in water. After finishing feeding, the cub almost doubles in size. The mother and the baby whale are accompanied by the male during the entire feeding period.

• man hunted whales for whalebone, fat and bones. Margarine, glycerin and soap were made from fat and lard. Whalebone and bones were used for the production of corsets, figurines, jewelry, and dishes;
• in the production of decorative cosmetics, spermaceti, which is found in the head of a whale, is actively used;
• many species of whales are listed in the Red Book, as they were practically exterminated by whalers;
• more than a dozen blue whale skeletons can be seen in various natural museums around the world;
• The trainable whale is the beluga whale. It can be seen in circuses and dolphinariums. Researchers of the ocean floor trained beluga whales to search for objects lost at the bottom, deliver equipment to divers, and conduct underwater photography;
• A large amount of literature has been written about various representatives of whales, while mammals act both as assistants to humans and as dangerous predators;
• The names of whales, such as beluga whale or sperm whale, are used to name some types of sea or land cargo transport.

The largest of mammals, cetaceans, spend their entire lives in water. However, their ancestors lived on land, which is why whales are usually called “secondary aquatic” animals, in contrast to fish and amphibians, which are “primary aquatic” animals. This explains the fact that whales cannot stay under water for a long time, because they breathe air.

The diet of these animals is quite varied and depends on the whale’s habitat, its size and type. Thus, cetaceans can feed on both microorganisms and large mammals. Let's take a closer look at what whales eat.

Whale feeding

So, all whales are divided into two types: baleen whales and toothed whales. The diet of one type of whale is significantly different from that of another.

First of all, it should be said that toothed whales are predators: they have teeth with which they are able to “grind” flesh. Toothed whales include, for example, sperm whales, dolphins, beaked whales, and porpoises. They eat mainly cephalopods (squid, octopuses), as well as shrimp, crabs, fish (even other whales and sharks), seals, walruses, and sea lions. When there is not enough food, algae can be consumed. When hunting, they use echolocation.

Baleen whales (gray whale, blue whale, minke whale, pygmy whale, etc.) pass food through the "baleen" - comb-like horny plates on the upper jaw. Their diet is plankton (small crustacean organisms that form clusters - krill), which they filter from the water or bottom using a baleen. Sometimes they can eat small fish or crustaceans.

Interestingly, in winter, whales practically do not eat, so in summer they continuously consume food to accumulate a layer of fat (not only as a reserve of nutrients, but also to protect against low water temperatures). A whale eats up to three tons of food per day.

Blue whales are the largest animals on our planet: adults range from 24 to 30 meters in length, while females can exceed the size of males by up to 10 meters. In the XX century. they were almost completely exterminated due to commercial fishing. And only after a general ban on the destruction of whales did their numbers begin to gradually increase.

The upper part of the whale is a mottled blue-gray color, while the lower part is light gray or yellow-white. The yellowish tint of the animal's abdominal part is given by growths of microscopic unicellular seaweeds called diatoms. These plants are common in cold sea waters.

It is officially believed that the largest individual was a female, which was caught by whalers in the last century, 23 m 58 cm long. These animals can weigh up to 200 tons. For comparison, the weight of an African elephant is 7.5 tons. The heart of a blue whale is the size of a car, the beat of which can be heard 3 kilometers away. One of the species is the pygmy blue whale. They are three meters shorter than their larger relatives.

These animals have one incomparable quality: blue whales are the loudest animals on earth. The volume of their call signs reaches 188 decibels, which is significantly higher than the sound of a jet engine - 140 decibels. An animal can hear the song of a relative at a distance exceeding 1.5 thousand km.

In addition to their enormous size, the distinctive features of blue whales are a relatively small dorsal fin, a rounded part of the front of the skull and about 90 longitudinal grooves on the belly, reaching the navel.

Features of communication

Blue whales travel alone for most of their lives, sometimes in groups of 2-3 individuals. Large flocks, which may include 60 animals, have been recorded in places where food accumulates.

But there is one “but” here. The blue whale has the strongest voice of all animals, the low frequencies of which can spread in the deep-sea environment for many hundreds and even thousands of kilometers. Therefore, what may seem to people like “solo” sailing, in reality, is not so. Thanks to the ability for such negotiations, a solitary whale is often in close contact and communication with its relatives.

Nutrition

Whales feed by diving every 10-20 minutes to a depth of about 100 meters. The stomach can hold about one ton of krill at a time. Its requirement for krill is about 4 tons daily during the summer feeding season.

In the mouth there is a so-called “whalebone” of black color. These are horny plates hanging from the upper palate, 300-400 pieces each. from each side. The length of the plates ranges from 50 cm in front to 100 cm in the back. To feed, the animals straighten the “whalebone” in their throats and take in water with krill, sifting it through the horny plates. The water is then released through the baleen and the remaining krill in the mouth is swallowed.

Life cycle

The female usually gives birth to one kitten every two to three years. Currently, this birth rate exceeds the rate of destruction of animals during hunting, which continues to this day.

At birth, the baby whale is the largest newborn animal on earth: it is 8 meters long and weighs about 4 tons. In this case, the female’s pregnancy lasts a year, and usually one baby is born. The cubs grow at a rate of 90 kg per day. Childhood ends at 7-8 months, after the animal reaches 15 m in length and learns to swim independently. Animals reach maturity at 5–10 years.

The growth rate of the blue whale is also amazing and is the highest in the animal kingdom. In just a year and a half, the size of tissues increases several billion times.

Like other cetaceans, blue whales do not have teeth. Therefore, it can be difficult for scientists to determine the age of an animal. It is believed that their average lifespan reaches 50 years, some individuals can live up to ninety, and the oldest animal is considered to die at the age of 110 years.

Extermination of whales

Before the start of active whaling, the population of blue whales exceeded 250 thousand individuals. But in the 20th century. due to merciless hunting they were almost exterminated. Between 1904 and 1967, more than 350 thousand individuals were killed in the southern hemisphere alone. Many animals also died at the hands of Soviet whalers between 1960 and 1970.

The whales suffered especially hard in 1931, which marked the heyday of the fishery. This year, in just one whaling season, more than 29 thousand blue whales were killed. And only in 1967 the situation began to improve, when the world community stood up to protect animals, and whaling was banned.

Population today

Today, blue whales are distributed throughout the world. Their habitat includes all the world's oceans, with the exception of the Arctic Ocean. Blue whales are one of the most rarely seen species of cetaceans. Scientists still haven’t decided how many there are on earth. Their number ranges from 10 to 25 thousand.

One of the many populations of these animals that continues to grow at an encouraging rate is the population of whales that live in the North Pacific Ocean near the US state of California. The number of its representatives reaches 2 thousand.

This species, known as pygmy whales or pygmy whales, lives mainly in the Indian Ocean. Recent research suggests that these animals live in other areas of our planet.

Blue whales prefer to swim in deep ocean waters. In summer they migrate towards the poles, into cooler waters. In winter, the animals swim back towards the equator to warm waters to breed. Due to the fact that the seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres are opposite in time, populations of representatives living in different parts of the planet do not communicate or mix with each other.

Danger to whales

Most biologists have concluded that blue whales are the most endangered of all cetaceans. A serious danger for them is:

• water pollution with chemicals;
• a violation of the natural sound balance, due to which they are unable to find a mate;
• loss of permanent habitat;
• collisions with ships and entanglement in fishing gear.

Climate change could have a significant impact on food supplies, as global warming could shift the pH balance of seawater to acidic levels. This will affect the number of krill that the blue whale feeds on.

Due to climate changes in the frontal zones, the habitats of blue whales, there is a shift further south. In frontal zones, water can rise from the depths, bringing with it gigantic amounts of nutrients. This stimulates the growth of phytoplankton, and also creates conditions for the growth of populations on which the animals feed.

As a result of the migration of frontal zones over a distance of 200-500 km, blue whales are forced to migrate further to feed. Over time, such movements can significantly reduce the body's energy reserves and shorten the feeding seasons. As frontal zones move south, they reduce the areas where species of animals that provide food for blue whales can develop.

You will learn what whales eat.

Whales are marine mammals that are the largest in size, up to 33 meters in length and weighing up to 120 tons. There are baleen whales, which are distinguished by the presence of baleen, to filter plankton from the water, and toothed whales, which hunt fish and squid, and use echolocation.

What do whales eat in the ocean

The diet of the blue whale is practically no different from the diet of other minke whales. It is based on plankton - small crustaceans no more than six centimeters long, from the order Euphausia. These crustaceans form entire clusters - the so-called krill.

whales eat and fish, but it makes up a small part of their diet. Most likely, fish and other small marine animals such as squid and cuttlefish are accidentally ingested by them while eating their main food - krill. It is quite possible that if there are no large concentrations of krill, whales begin to additionally feed on small schooling fish and small crustaceans that do not belong to krill.

In order to eat, the whale opens its huge mouth and takes in water with a mass of krill, fish and small squid. The whale's mouth can stretch, thanks to special stripes on the throat and the movable articulation of the lower jaw bones. After this, the whale closes its mouth and with its large tongue begins to squeeze the water back, filtering it through the whalebone. The plankton lingers and is then swallowed by the whale.

The whale's lower jaw is so huge that it can hold up to 32.6 m³ of water. Because of this, it is sometimes difficult for the whale to close it. Therefore, having collected its food, it often turns on its side or on its back so that its mouth slams shut under its own weight. Because of their enormous size, whales have to eat huge amounts of krill per day, amounting to several tons.

In the summer, when they gain weight to build up their energy reserves, whales eat up to three and a half tons of food, thereby building up a layer of fat. This fat will act as insulation for them, protecting them from the extremely cold water temperatures at low latitudes. Now you know what whales eat.

On our website you can also find out what they eat , .

Where do whales live?

Blue whales live in all oceans of the world, and prefer the coastal shelf of ocean waters. Blue whales move to different regions of the ocean depending on the season.
Many whales from northern latitudes can migrate to the tropics in winter.
There is evidence that individual blue whales may remain closer to the equator year-round.
In practice, tracking the movement of whales is quite difficult, since they live in the open ocean.

How long do they live?

Scientists believe blue whales live at least 80-90 years, possibly longer.

What do they eat?

Blue whales feed primarily on krill. Whales eat different foods depending on where they live. During the summer months, whales eat about 4 tons of food every day. Blue whales, which live in the waters off Baja California and Mexico, are known to eat red crabs.
The blue whale is a representative of the baleen whales; it has whiskers instead of teeth.
The mustache hangs from the upper jaw. They are made up of keratin, a material similar to fingernails, that further develop into fine hairs in the mouth near the tongue. The whale takes a very large amount of water into its mouth and then releases it back. When water is forced out of the mouth, the baleen plates act like a sieve and trap food.

How do they behave?

The normal speed for a blue whale is about 22 km/h, but they can reach speeds of up to 30 mph (48 km/h) if they sense danger.
They usually feed at depths less than 100 m.
It was possible to record pods of whales, in which there were up to 60, but more often single animals or groups of two or three individuals are found.
Female blue whales give birth to their calves in warm waters near the equator during the winter months after returning from feeding in the northern latitudes.
Female blue whales give birth to one calf every 2-3 years. Twins are rarely born, but such cases do occur. The cubs are 6-7 m long and weigh 3-4 tons at birth.
During feeding, the cub gains 90 kg of its own weight per day. Young whales stop breastfeeding after 7 to 8 months, usually after they have reached 16 m in length.

Why and why do whales make sounds?

Whales make short sounds that are repeated regularly for up to 30 seconds. They use several different combinations of pulses in a specific sequence, which can last for almost an hour and are repeated over many days. The blue whale makes sounds in the low range from 7 Hz to 200 Hz approximately, but most sounds are in the range from 16 to 28 Hz. People cannot hear most sounds without special equipment.
We still don't know why they make these sounds, but it has been proven that they can be heard by another whale 1126 km away. We know that there are different groups of blue whales in different parts of the ocean. Different populations of whales make different sounds.

Enemies of blue whales

Blue whales, due to their large size, have virtually no natural enemies. The main enemy of blue whales is humans. In the 20th century, this species of whale was almost exterminated.

How many blue whales are there in the ocean?

The number of blue whales depends on the population size. NOAA estimates that, as of 2003, there were 1,480 right whales in the northeastern Pacific Ocean (California, Oregon, and Washington). In 1994, there were 1,400 blue whales in the eastern tropical Pacific.
It is believed that there are about 10,000 blue whales in the entire world's oceans