What type of animal are whales?

Although whales are sometimes called “fisher whales,” they are actually mammals, and their “relatives” are more likely to be considered deer and cattle. This is shown by a comparative analysis of the skeletal structure. But already many millions of years ago, the ancestors of whales, originally living on land, gradually moved to another, aquatic habitat.

Cetaceans or whales (lat. Cetacea) are an order of mammals fully adapted to life in water. Cetaceans, together with artiodactyls, are sometimes classified as a non-systematic group of cetaceans. All cetaceans except dolphins and porpoises are often called whales. Cetaceans are the largest animals that have ever lived on Earth.

The scientific name cetus and the Russian word whale come from the Greek ketos (sea monster).

Cetaceans have a fusiform, streamlined body and smooth skin without hair. A thick layer of blubber protects whales from hypothermia. The forelimbs are transformed into flippers, the hind limbs are atrophied. The tail ends in a large horizontal fin.

Cetaceans have the largest size among mammals, so the average body length of a blue whale is 25 m, weight is 90-120 tons. The smallest cetaceans are the white-bellied dolphin and Hector's dolphin, belonging to the genus of motley dolphins (Cephalorhynchys): their body length is not exceeds 120 cm, weight - 45 kg.

The largest whale is at the same time the largest animal in the world. This is a blue whale - its length can exceed 30 meters, and its weight reaches 125 tons. It can be found in any seas, but most often it is found in the Pacific Ocean. It belongs to the group of toothless whales (the other group is called toothed whales).

It is quite difficult to imagine that the largest animal in the world can live without teeth. How do they do this? In their mouth they have a device consisting of hundreds of horny plates called baleen. They grow on the roof of the mouth (the top of the mouth) and form something like a sieve.

The blue whale feeds in the following way: with its mouth wide open, it quickly swims through an accumulation of prey, which consists mainly of small mollusks, shrimp and fish. Closing his mouth, he forcefully pushes water out of it. The water is filtered through the whalebone, but the prey remains. The whale's mouth resembles a huge container. And the length of his head is about a third of the length of his body.

Among the toothed whales, the largest are sperm whales. They have a huge head and reach 20 meters in length. The killer whale, or killer whale (actually a large dolphin), is the only cetacean that feeds on other warm-blooded animals. The killer whale is about 9 meters long, and it easily overtakes seals. Schools of killer whales even attack large whales.

Because whales live in water and have fish-like bodies, we often compare them to fish. But their skeletal structure, circulatory system and brain are not at all similar to fish.

Whales (in Greek - “sea monsters”) are large marine mammals belonging to the fairly large order Cetaceans. The status of the name has not been fully determined at the moment, but representatives of Otrad include any cetaceans, with the exception of dolphins and porpoises.

Description of whales

Along with other mammals, whales use lungs for breathing, belong to the category of warm-blooded animals, feed their newborn offspring with milk produced by the mammary glands, and also have fairly reduced hair.

Appearance

Whales have a spindle-shaped body that resembles the streamlined shape of almost any fish.. The fins, which are sometimes called flippers, have a lobe-like appearance. The tail end is characterized by the presence of a fin, represented by two horizontal blades. Such a fin has the function of a stabilizer and a kind of “engine”, therefore, in the process of wave-like movements in the vertical plane, the whales are provided with fairly easy movement in the forward direction.

This is interesting! Whales, like dolphins, do not need to rise to the surface of the water very often for the purpose of breathing, so only half of the animal’s brain is able to rest during sleep at a certain time.

The protection of the whale's skin from the negative effects of ultraviolet sunlight is provided by various protective devices, which differ markedly in different groups of cetacean mammals.

For example, blue whales are able to increase the content of pigments in their skin, which very effectively absorb a fairly large amount of ultraviolet radiation. Sperm whales trigger special “stress” reactions, similar to the response to exposure to oxygen radicals, and fin whales are able to use both protective methods. In cold waters, whales maintain a stable body temperature thanks to a very thick and uniform fat layer located directly under the skin of such a large mammal. This layer of subcutaneous fat serves as a very effective and complete protection of the whale’s internal organs from severe hypothermia.

Character and lifestyle

According to scientists, whales belong to the category of animals that lead a predominantly diurnal lifestyle. Almost all representatives of the order Cetaceans are capable of staying directly under water for a long time and without renewing air in their lungs, but a significant number of such mammals rarely use this natural opportunity, so whales most often dive only when immediate danger appears.

However, among whales there are real, very good deep-sea swimmers. For example, the sperm whale is such an unsurpassed diver. This whale can easily dive into water to a depth of a couple of thousand meters, remaining underwater for an hour and a half. This feature is due to the presence of several changes that the whale’s body has undergone, including increased lung capacity and increased hemoglobin content in the blood, as well as a high volume of myoglobin in muscle tissue. In addition, the whale's respiratory center has low sensitivity to the amount of carbon dioxide. Before diving, the whale breathes very deeply, during which the muscle hemoglobin is actively saturated with oxygen and the lungs are filled with clean air.

This is interesting! All whales are gregarious marine animals, preferring to form groups of several dozen or even hundreds of individuals.

Whales are large animals, but very peaceful. Many cetacean species are characterized by seasonal migrations. With the onset of cold weather, mammals migrate towards warmer waters, and after a while return back. From year to year, such aquatic animals adhere to only one route, so during the migration process they return to already inhabited and familiar areas. For example, the Asian herd of fin whales is characterized by summer fattening in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, rich in food, near the Chukotka Peninsula and Kamchatka. With the onset of cold weather, such whales move to the waters of the Yellow Sea or closer to the southern Japanese shores.

How long do whales live?

The smallest species of whales live about a quarter of a century, and the average life expectancy of the largest representatives of the order Cetaceans can be fifty years. The age of a whale is determined in several ways: according to the appearance of the female's ovaries or baleen plates, as well as by the ear plug or teeth.

Types of whales

Representatives of the order Cetaceans are represented by two suborders:

• Baleen whales (Mysticeti) – are distinguished by the presence of whiskers, as well as a filter-like structure, which is located on the upper jaw of the animal and consists mainly of keratin. Baleen is used in the filtration of various aquatic plankton and allows a significant volume of water to be filtered through the comb-like mouth structure. Baleen whales are by far the largest representatives of all suborders of whales;
• Toothed whales (Odontoseti) – are characterized by the presence of teeth, and the structural features of such aquatic mammals allow them to hunt squid and fairly large fish, which are the main source of their diet. The special abilities of absolutely all representatives of this group also include the ability to sense the features of the environment, called echolocation. Toothed whales also include porpoises and dolphins.

The group Baleen whales is divided into four families: minke whales (Balaenopteridae), gray whales (Eschrichtiidae), smooth whales (Balaenidae) and dwarf whales (Neobalaenidae). Such families include ten species, represented by the bowhead, southern pygmy, gray, humpback, blue, fin and sei whales, as well as minke and Bryde's whales.

The families of toothed whales include:

• Gangetic dolphins (Platanistidae Gray);
• Dolphinidae (Delphinidae Gray);
• Narwhals (Monodontidae Gray);
• Sperm whales (Physeteridae Gray);
• Inii (Iniidae Gray);
• Dwarf sperm whales (Cogiidae Gill);
• Beaked whales (Ziрhiidae Gray);
• Laplatan dolphins (Pontororiidae Gray);
• Porpoises (Phocoenidae Gray);
• River dolphins (Lipōtidae Gray).

The third suborder of the order Cetaceans are the ancient whales (Archaeoceti), which are today a completely extinct group.

Range, habitats

The largest distribution area is distinguished by sperm whales, which live in the waters of the entire World Ocean, with the exception of the coldest southern and northern regions, and dwarf sperm whales also inhabit warm or moderately warm waters of the World Ocean.

Representatives of baleen whales are widespread in the oceans, with the exception of the bowhead whale, which lives in Arctic waters, the Bryde's whale, which inhabits the warm zone of the World Ocean, and the dwarf whale, which is found in the cold and temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere.

Whale diet

The composition of the diet of different cetacean species varies in accordance with their geographical distribution, ecological zone and time of year. Depending on their basic food preferences, different species of whales live in certain oceanic zones. Planktivores or smooth whales feed mainly in the waters of the open sea, catching accumulations of zooplankton in the surface layers, represented by small crustaceans and pteropods. Benthophages or gray whales typically feed at shallow depths, and ichthyophages from the dolphin family prefer to catch schooling fish.

A significant part of minke whales are accustomed to a mixed diet represented by various crustaceans and fish, and teutophages, including sperm whales, beaked whales and gray dolphins, prefer only cephalopods.

Seasonal changes in feeding conditions can cause quite sharp fluctuations in such a parameter as the level of fatness of whales. Cetaceans are the most well-fed at the end of the autumn feeding period, and mammals become less well-fed in spring and winter. During the active breeding season, many whales do not feed at all.

Reproduction and offspring

All species of whales are adapted to produce their offspring exclusively in fairly warm waters. It is for this reason that mammals that live in cold areas and are accustomed to making long migrations give birth to their babies in the winter, moving to areas with higher water temperatures.

This is interesting! Newborn whales are not only very large, but also well formed, which is due to the loss of pelvic bones in such aquatic animals, which impose some restrictions on the maximum size of the fetus.

Pregnancy in various species of whales lasts from nine to sixteen months, and the result of childbirth is the birth of one whale, which is born tail first. A newborn baby, immediately after birth, rises to the water surface, where he takes his very first breath. The whales very quickly adapt to the new environment and begin to swim well and quite confidently. At first, the cubs stay close to their mother, which not only makes their movement easier, but also makes it as safe as possible.

The whales feed very often and attach themselves to the mother's nipple almost every quarter of an hour.. After sucking on the nipple, thanks to the contraction of special muscles, warm milk is independently injected into the baby’s mouth. Depending on the characteristics characteristic of the subspecies or species, different cetaceans produce different volumes of milk, which varies from 200-1200 ml in dolphins and up to 180-200 liters in a large blue whale.

The milk of cetaceans is very thick, creamy in color and approximately ten times more nutritious than traditional cow's milk. Due to the high surface tension, whale milk does not spread in water, and the lactation period can last from four months to a year and sometimes partially coincides with the female’s next pregnancy.

Whales are characterized by a highly developed parental instinct, which is why such large aquatic mammals never leave their young in danger. Even if a whale calf finds itself in shallow water at low tide and is not able to swim away on its own, its mother will definitely wait for the tide and take her baby to the safest, most comfortable place. Adult whales are able to bravely rush to the aid of harpooned calves, and try to drag their calves away from the ship. It was precisely this boundless devotion of adult whales that whalers very often took advantage of, luring large individuals to the ship.

This is interesting! Beluga whales are trainable whales that often perform in dolphinariums and circuses, so calves of this species are especially highly prized.

It is well known that whales are distinguished by a surprisingly touching attitude not only towards their calves, but also to any relatives. All representatives of the order Cetaceans almost never abandon their sick or wounded brothers in trouble, so they try to come to the rescue in any case.

If a whale is too weak and is not able to rise to the surface on its own to breathe air into its lungs, then several healthy individuals surround such an animal to help it float, after which they carefully support the relative afloat.

The blue whale or blue whale is a marine animal that is a member of the cetacean order. The blue whale belongs to the baleen whales of the genus minke whales. The blue whale is the largest whale on the planet. In this article you will find a description and photo of a blue whale, you will learn a lot of new and interesting things about the life of this huge and amazing animal.

The blue whale looks very huge, but it has an elongated and slender body. The large head of this whale is equipped with small eyes and a sharp muzzle with a wide lower jaw. The blue whale has a blowhole, from which it releases a vertical fountain of water up to 10 meters high when exhaling. On the head in front of the blowhole, the blue whale has a noticeable longitudinal ridge called the “breakwater”.

The blue whale has a dorsal fin that is strongly displaced back. This fin is very small and has the shape of a pointed triangle. The back edge of the whale's fin is covered with scratches, which form an individual pattern for each whale. Using such patterns, researchers can distinguish each individual. The length of this fin is only 35 cm.

The blue whale has narrow, elongated pectoral fins that reach up to 4 meters in length. The caudal fin of the blue whale reaches up to 8 meters in width, it has a thick caudal peduncle and a small notch. All these elements help the blue whale easily control its large body in the water.

The blue whale looks very unusual thanks to its longitudinal stripes. Like all minke whales, the blue whale has many longitudinal stripes on the underside of its head that continue down its throat and belly. These stripes are formed by folds of the skin and help the blue whale's throat stretch when it swallows large volumes of water and food. A blue whale usually has about 60-70 such stripes, but there can be more.

The blue whale is the largest whale of all cetaceans at present. Also, the blue whale is the largest animal on Earth. The size of the blue whale is enormous and makes a strong impression. The giants, 30 meters long and weighing more than 150 tons, are amazing. In blue whales, females are slightly larger than males.

The largest blue whale known is a female, which had a length of 33 meters, with a body weight of 190 tons. Among males, the largest blue whale weighed 180 tons, with a body length of 31 meters. Huge blue whales over 30 meters long are extremely rare today. Therefore, in our time, the length of the blue whale has decreased somewhat. At the same time, the mass of the blue whale also became slightly smaller.

The length of male blue whales varies from 23 to 25 meters. The length of the blue whale in females ranges from 24 to 27 meters. The weight of the blue whale is no less impressive than its length. The weight of a blue whale ranges from 115 to 150 tons. Individuals that live in the Northern Hemisphere are a couple of meters smaller in size than those that live in the Southern Hemisphere.

The vision and sense of smell of the great blue whale are poorly developed. But his hearing and sense of touch are well developed. The great blue whale has a huge lung capacity. The amount of blood in a large blue whale is over 8 thousand liters. The tongue of a blue whale weighs up to 4 tons. Despite such impressive numbers, the blue whale has a narrow throat, its diameter is only 10 cm. The heart of the blue whale weighs a whole ton and is the largest heart in the entire animal kingdom. However, his pulse is usually 5-10 beats per minute and rarely exceeds 20 beats.

The skin of the blue whale looks smooth and even, except for the existing stripes on the throat and belly. Blue whales are almost never overgrown with various crustaceans, which often settle on other whales in large quantities. The blue whale looks rather monotonous. He has predominantly gray skin color, with a blue tint. Sometimes the blue whale looks grayer, and sometimes its color has more blue tones. The blue whale's lower jaw and head are the darkest in color, the back is lighter, and the sides and belly are the lightest on the entire body.

There are gray spots along the body of the blue whale; they have different shapes and sizes. By these spots you can distinguish one or another whale. This coloring makes the blue whale look like it is made of marble. In the tail part the number of spots increases. The pectoral fins of the blue whale on the inside are much lighter in color than the rest of the body. However, the underside of the tail is much darker than the rest of the body. Through the water column, this whale looks absolutely blue, which is why the blue whale is called blue.

In cold waters, the color of the blue whale takes on a greenish tint, as the skin of this mammal becomes overgrown with microscopic algae, which form a film on its skin. The acquisition of this shade is characteristic of all baleen whales. When the whales return to warmer waters, this coating disappears.

Inside the mouth of this giant there are plates of whalebone, about a meter long, which consist of keratin. The longest plates of whalebone are in the back rows, and in the front part their length decreases to 50 cm. These plates reach a width of about half a meter. One baleen plate can weigh up to 90 kg. In total, the blue whale has 800 plates on its upper jaw, 400 on each side. The blue whale's baleen is a rich black color. The baleen plates have the shape of an inverted triangle, the top of which is broken into a hair-like fringe, which is quite rough and tough.

There are three subspecies of blue whale - northern, southern and dwarf, which are slightly different from each other. Sometimes another subspecies is identified - the Indian blue whale. The first two subspecies prefer cold circumpolar waters, while the rest inhabit mainly tropical seas. All subspecies have almost the same lifestyle. The lifespan of a blue whale is quite long and can be 90 years; the oldest whale was 110 years old. The average lifespan of blue whales is 40 years.

Previously, the blue whale's habitat was the entire world's oceans. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of huge blue whales began to decline rapidly due to active fishing. The gigantic size of the animal's carcass attracted whalers. After all, you could get a lot of fat and meat from one big blue whale. So by 1960, the blue whale was almost destroyed and was on the verge of complete extinction; no more than 5 thousand individuals remained.

Now the great blue whale is still very rare - the total number of these animals is about 10 thousand individuals. The main threat to blue whales is sea pollution and disruption of their normal way of life. Also, the growth in the number of blue whales is influenced by their slow natural reproduction.

The blue whale lives in the waters of many states and territories throughout our planet. Previously, the blue whale's habitat occupied the entire world's oceans. Now the blue whale lives in different waters, depending on the subspecies. The northern and southern subspecies of blue whales live in cold waters. The southern subspecies is mainly found in cold subantarctic waters. Dwarf whales prefer life in warmer waters.

The blue whale animal rises quite far to the north - southern blue whales have been spotted off the coast of Chile, South Africa and Namibia. In the Indian Ocean, the blue whale lives in equatorial waters all year round. They are especially often seen near Ceylon and the Maldives, as well as in the Gulf of Aden and the Seychelles. These are the best places on the planet for those who want to see whales.

In the Pacific Ocean, blue whales are found off the coast of Chile. But they are absent off the coast from Costa Rica to California. At the same time, blue whales are becoming numerous in California waters. The blue whale lives from the Oregon coast to the Kuril Islands and to the Aleutian ridge, but does not go far into the Bering Sea.

Great blue whales are no longer present in waters near Japan and Korea, but were once present. Blue whales are extremely rare in Russian waters. Small groups and single animals were seen near Cape Lopatka (the southernmost point of the Kamchatka Peninsula).

In the North Atlantic Ocean, blue whales are few in number compared to the number of individuals in the Southern Hemisphere. In the North Atlantic, the blue whale lives off the coast of Canada, in the areas between Nova Scotia and Davis Strait.

Blue whales are found off Iceland and in the Denmark Strait. Previously, the blue whale lived off the northwestern coast of the British Isles, the Faroe Islands and the coast of Norway. Occasionally, blue whales can be found off the coast of Spain and Gibraltar.

Blue whales are known to migrate. Whales spend the summer in the high latitudes of both hemispheres, but with the onset of winter, they migrate to warmer areas of lower latitudes. Winter migrations of the blue whale in the North Atlantic are poorly studied. It is still unclear why blue whales always leave Antarctica in winter and go north to warmer waters. Even though the former location still has enough food.

This probably happens because females, when giving birth to their young, tend to move them away from cold areas. Because blue whale calves have a poorly developed fat layer and are therefore not sufficiently protected from the cold. After all, the developed fat layer helps maintain the body temperature of blue whales even in the coldest waters.

Blue whales live alone, sometimes in small groups. But even in groups they swim separately. The blue whale is a diurnal mammal. The blue whale lives using vocal signals to communicate with its relatives. The sounds that the blue whale makes are infrasounds. They are very intense. Blue whales use infrasound signals to communicate over long distances during migrations.

Blue whales are able to communicate using signals over distances of up to 33 km. The blue whale's voice is extremely loud. There are known cases of recording the very intense voice of a blue whale at a distance of 200, 400 and even 1600 km. The blue whale also uses its signals to find a partner to start a family.

In general, the blue whale lives with a greater tendency to be alone than all other cetaceans. But sometimes blue whales live in small groups. In places where there is an abundance of food, they can create noticeable aggregations, which are divided into small groups. In these groups, blue whales keep to themselves. But the total number of such aggregations of blue whales can reach 50-60 individuals.

The blue whale can dive quite deep. The blue whale is capable of diving to depths of up to 500 meters for up to 50 minutes. Typical dives for a feeding blue whale are between 100 and 200 meters deep. Such dives last from 5 to 20 minutes.

A feeding whale dives rather leisurely. After surfacing, the whale's breathing accelerates, and it emits a fountain. When breathing is restored, the whale dives again. A blue whale at rest breathes up to 4 times per minute. Young whales breathe more frequently than adults. After a long dive to depth, the blue whale makes a series of short surfaces and shallow dives. During this time, the whale swims 40-50 meters.

The blue whale looks quite imposing and impressive when it jumps out of the water. The most spectacular surfaces are the first one after rising from the depths and the last one before diving. The whale surfaces, showing the very top of its head, then its back, dorsal fin and caudal peduncle.

When a blue whale dives into the depths, it tilts its head downwards. When the head is already deep under water, a part of its back with a fin is shown on the surface, which is always the last to go under water. The whale sinks lower and lower until it disappears under the water, never showing its tail. The blue whale lives by spending 94% of its time underwater.

Over short distances, the blue whale can reach speeds of up to 37 km/h, and in some cases up to 48 km/h. But the whale cannot maintain this speed for a long time, since it is too much stress on the body. The whale produces up to 500 horsepower at this speed. A feeding blue whale moves slowly, within 2-6 km/h. But during migrations its speed increases to 33 km/h.

Because the whale is so large, adult blue whales have no natural predators. But young blue whales can become victims of attacks by a pod of killer whales. These predators drive the whale into the depths in a flock, where it weakens from lack of oxygen. The weakened animal will be able to be torn apart and eaten by killer whales.

There are currently no direct threats to the blue whale population. But there is a danger that long networks of 5 km pose for them. A huge number of marine life die in such nets, although only one case of blue whales dying in them is known. In other cases, according to fishermen, large blue whales easily overcame such nets. Off the coast of Western Canada, blue whales have many markings on their skin from various fishing gear.

Blue whales also die in the Pacific Ocean from collisions with ships, the average is 1-2 cases per year. Some animals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence area have scars from collisions with ships. This is caused by the high concentration of blue whales combined with heavy shipping traffic in the area of ​​these waters. Today, despite the protection of blue whales, even in places where they are most numerous, there are still no restrictions on shipping. There are only recommendations to slow down in these waters, which are not followed by captains.

Nowadays, the greatest threat to blue whales comes from sea pollution, including oil products. Toxic chemicals that enter the sea accumulate in the fatty tissue of blue whales. It is especially dangerous when these substances accumulate in the body of females who are expecting the birth of cubs.

Human impact also affects the number of blue whales by disrupting their communications. The background noise of the sea has recently increased too much and the vocal signals of large baleen whales are often drowned out. After all, the noises that ships make have the same frequency as the voices of whales.

In connection with this, it becomes more difficult for whales to navigate and look for relatives, which also makes it difficult to find a partner during the mating season. The greatest damage in this case is caused by the hydroacoustic systems of warships, which operate in active mode.

The blue whale feeds on plankton, which is typical for baleen whales. The mammal blue whale has an excellent filtering apparatus, which is formed by the plates of the whalebone.

The blue whale feeds on krill, which is the main food in its diet. Sometimes the blue whale feeds on larger crustaceans and small fish. But still, small crustaceans predominate in the blue whale’s food composition. Massive aggregations of such crustaceans are called krill. In the photo below you can see a cluster of krill in the ocean.

Fish plays a minor role in the blue whale's diet. When ingesting masses of krill, the huge blue whale may accidentally ingest small fish, small squid and other marine animals. Sometimes the blue whale feeds on small crustaceans that are not krill.

The blue whale eats the same way as other minke whales. The whale swims slowly with its mouth open and takes in water with a mass of small crustaceans. The whale's mouth is very stretchable thanks to the stripes on the throat and the movable bones of the lower jaw. Having scooped up water with crustaceans, the whale closes its mouth. At the same time, the blue whale's tongue pushes water back through the whalebone. And the plankton that settles on the fringe of the mustache is swallowed.

The huge lower jaw, which is filled with water and food, becomes very heavy. Sometimes the weight is so heavy that it is difficult for the blue whale to move its jaw to close its mouth.

Therefore, the blue whale, taking food into its mouth, turns over on its side or back to make it easier to close. In this position, the mouth closes itself under the influence of gravity.

Due to its size, the blue whale is forced to consume a lot of food - a blue whale can eat from 3 to 8 tons of krill per day. A blue whale needs approximately 1.5 tons of food per day.

The natural growth of the blue whale occurs very slowly. The blue whale is the animal in which this process is the slowest among all baleen whales. Female blue whales give birth once every two years. This period can increase or decrease, it depends on the density of the blue whale population. In recent decades, it has unfortunately declined. The blue whale is a monogamous animal. Blue whales form long-lasting pairs. The male always stays close to the female, both during pregnancy and after the birth of the baby.

The duration of pregnancy for a female blue whale lasts about 11 months. Most often, one blue whale calf is born. The little giant is born 6-8 meters long and weighing 2-3 tons. Immediately after birth, a blue whale calf can move independently. The baby is born tail first. Females have a very developed maternal instinct, they are deeply attached to their cubs.

Blue whale calves, accompanied by females, begin to be seen from December to March. Breastfeeding for blue whale calves lasts about 7 months. During this time, the blue whale calf reaches up to 16 meters in length and weighs 23 tons.

A blue whale calf consumes up to 90 liters of milk per day. Reaching the age of 1.5 years, a blue whale calf grows to 20 meters in length and 45-50 tons of weight. The milk of a female blue whale is very fatty and rich in protein. Its fat content ranges from 37 to 50%.

Blue whales become capable of breeding offspring at the age of 8-10 years. By this age, females reach 23 meters and weigh about 90 tons. The blue whale reaches its full length and bodily maturity by 15 years of age.

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The blue whale, also known as the blue whale, is the largest mammal that has ever existed on our planet. Despite its massive size, this giant feeds on almost the smallest sea inhabitants - tiny shrimp (krill). The length of a blue whale can reach 23-33 m, and its weight can be 150 tons. Moreover, females are usually larger than males.

Is the blue whale a fish or an animal? The blue whale cannot be classified as a fish for several reasons: firstly, the absence of gills - the whale breathes with its lungs. Secondly, whales have a 4-chambered heart, not a 2-chambered one like fish. Thirdly, females feed their cubs with milk, that is, they are mammals. Finally, whales have no scales and are warm-blooded, unlike fish. These are just a few of the main reasons why we can classify blue whales as animals rather than fish.

Vomit is an animal of the baleen whale order. It has an elongated, slender body and a large head, which makes up 27% of the total body length. The upper jaw of the blue whale is significantly narrower than the lower jaw. Vomiting is usually dark gray in color, sometimes with a blue tint. Large spots are often found on the body, mainly on the abdominal and posterior parts. If you look at a whale from above - through the water, it appears blue, which is why it got its name.

The blue whale dives to a fairly large depth - up to 200 m, but if it is wounded or frightened, it can dive even deeper - up to 500 m. The duration of the dive, as a rule, is from 5 to 30 minutes, but if the whale is pursued by whalers, then out of fear he can hide underwater for almost an hour. After surfacing, the whale breathes rapidly for 2-10 minutes and dives again. Each time it emerges, it releases a fountain of steam up to 10 meters high.

The blue whale feeds mainly on plankton. To catch it, it opens its mouth and swims, slowly absorbing water with krill that it encounters along the way. Then, closing its mouth, the vomit with its tongue pushes out the water through the whalebone. At the same time, food settles on the whisker fringe and is then swallowed. The stomach of a blue whale can hold up to a ton of food. Barfs eat mainly in the summer, and after migrating to warm waters for the winter, they eat almost nothing.

Some scientists believe that the brain of blue whales is most similar in its capabilities to the human brain when compared with other animals. Blue whales also have a good memory: they can remember where they were born and raised, and recognize their parents even after many years.

These animals have poor eyesight and sense of smell. But they have well-developed hearing and sense of touch. Blue whales exchange sound signals with their relatives at a distance of up to 33 km.

Vomit is a solitary animal. Occasionally, individuals unite in small flocks, but even there they swim separately. However, these animals are believed to be monogamous and form very close and long-lasting bonds.

Order Cetaceans and its representatives

The body structure of cetaceans is very similar to that of fish. In everyday life, all these animals are usually called whales. The exception to the order under consideration is the family of porpoises and dolphins. The scientific Latin name for this order is “cetus”. The Russian word “whale” comes from Greek and literally means “sea monster”.

In general, cetaceans are the largest animals of all the animals that live on our planet. As for the origin of these creatures, it is believed that they descended from artiodactyl land mammals, which were able to further adapt to a semi-terrestrial - semi-aquatic lifestyle about fifty million years ago. In the modern world there is a wide variety of these fish-like marine animals.

The blue whale is the largest whale, the largest living animal, and probably the largest animal to ever live on Earth.

The entire large order of cetaceans is usually divided into two suborders: toothed whales (Odontoceti) and toothless or otherwise baleen whales (Mysticeti). Representatives of these suborders differ significantly from each other not only in their appearance, way of life, but also in their internal structure.

The order Cetacea unites thirty-eight genera, which include more than eight dozen species of marine mammals. About thirty species of cetaceans can be found in Russia. In order for you to get your bearings a little, to understand what these animals are and who belongs to the cetaceans, let's look at their accepted classification:

• Suborder Odontoceti - Odontoceti divided by:

— Family Delphinidae — Dolphinidae is quite numerous and includes killer whales, white-sided dolphins, bottlenose dolphins;

Bottlenose dolphin (or bottlenose dolphin) with calf

- Family Phocoenidae - Porpoises includes four species of porpoises, the finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) and the white-winged porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli);

- Family Monodontidae - Narwhals includes the beluga whale (Delphina pterusleucas) and the unicorn (Monodon) which includes the narwhal (Monodon monoceros);

Narwhal

Beluga whales

— Family Physeteridae — Sperm whales. This family includes the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus);

- Family Kogiidae - Dwarf sperm whales. Sometimes this family is referred to as the sperm whale family. It includes the dwarf sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) and the little sperm whale (Kogia simus);

Sperm whale

- Superfamily Platanistoidea - River dolphins includes the Family Iniidae, which in turn includes the Amazonian dolphin (Inia geoffrensis);

— Family Platanistidae. The Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica) belongs to this Family. This species is sometimes divided into two subspecies;

— The family Pontoporiidae is represented by the La Plata dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei);

— Family Lipotidae. This includes the Chinese river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer);

Amazon river dolphin

- Family Ziphidae - Beaked. It includes swimmers or otherwise Berardius - only two species, bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon), also two species, belted whales (Mesoplodon) - fourteen species, longman's whale (Indopacetus pacificus), beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) and Tasmanian beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi ).

Beaked whale

• Suborder Mysticeti - Toothless whales divided by:

— Family Balaenidae — Right whales. It includes three species of southern right whale (Eubalaena) and the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus);

— Family Eschrichtiidae — Gray whales, which actually includes the gray whale itself (Eschrichtius robustus);

- Family Balaenopteridae - Minke whales includes the subfamily Balaenopterinae, which includes eight species of minke whales and the subfamily Megapterinae, which includes the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae);

- Family Neobalaenidae, which includes a single representative - the dwarf right whale (Caperea marginata).

Humpback whale

Appearance and lifestyle of animals that make up the order Cetaceans

As you yourself have already understood, the cetacean order is a very large order, which includes dozens of species of different representatives of these marine animals. They are all significantly different from each other, however, they have a lot in common. The most common and prominent representatives of this order have been familiar to us since childhood. After all, it is not at all necessary to be an expert in order to distinguish, for example, a whale from a dolphin.

The smallest cetaceans are Hector's dolphin and the white-bellied dolphin. The length of these “babies” is a maximum of 120 cm, but they weigh only 40 – 45 kg. The largest cetacean is the blue whale. The body length of this giant can reach as much as 33 meters, and its weight can be more than 150 tons! Despite all the differences between cetaceans and fish, they are united by certain similarities in appearance, habitat, lifestyle, and much more. Outwardly, these animals are very similar to fish, but differ primarily in that they are warm-blooded and breathe with lungs rather than gills. Their body temperature ranges from 36 to 40 C.

Great killer whale

The peculiarities of the respiratory and circulatory systems allow them to continuously stay under water, once making a supply of air, for up to an hour and a half! The skin of cetaceans, unlike most fish, is devoid of scales and contains remnants of hair (vibrissae). The structure of their bodies is streamlined, which allows them to experience the least friction, and therefore water resistance when swimming. This is also facilitated by their smooth, firm and elastic skin, completely devoid of hair. The color of numerous species of cetaceans varies from solid to spotted or counter-shaded (dark back and light belly). In some species it may change with age.

Like land mammals, the young of animals from the order Cetaceans do not develop in the external environment, but in utero, and after birth they are fed with milk. Most species are herd (collective) animals and therefore gather in groups of several tens, hundreds and even thousands of individuals. Cetaceans are distributed throughout the world, they can be found in all oceans and in most seas. Among them there are heat-loving species, i.e. tropical and subtropical, cold-loving species of polar and subpolar waters, as well as species with a wide habitat.

Gangetic river dolphins

Cetaceans are found both in the open sea and very close to the coasts. Some species can even enter rivers and live there for a long time. Some species of these mammals are characterized by seasonal migrations over short distances, others by long migrations covering many thousands of kilometers, and still others prefer an almost sedentary or nomadic lifestyle within a small water area, that is, “not far from home.”

According to the method and nature of feeding, cetaceans are divided into four groups:

• ichthyophages - species that feed mainly on fish;

• planktivores - species that are characterized by feeding on plankton;

• saprophages - species that feed on decaying organic remains and substances;

• Teutophagous - species that consume various cephalopods.

Thus, the diet of different species of cetaceans is not distinguished by gastronomic diversity and is very specialized, however, among the representatives of the genus in question, there is only one that periodically and regularly feeds not only on fish and, but also on warm-blooded creatures, such as seals, birds, and even their own kind . This species is the killer whale.

Great killer whale

Cetaceans live relatively long: small species - up to thirty years, large ones - up to about fifty.

It must be said that the animals that make up the order Cetaceans are not only numerous, but also very diverse, unusual and interesting, and therefore deserve attention. These articles will tell you about some species of marine mammals: