Whales: A Comprehensive Guide to Marine Mammals

Whales

Introduction to Whales

Whale, a member of a group of water animals, some species of which are the largest animals ever known. Although it lives in water all its life and is shaped like a fish, the whale is a mammal. It is warmblooded, breathes air, bears living young, and suckles its young with milk.

Sperm whales have been known to ram and sink whaling ships.

Whales have been hunted for centuries for food and other uses. Whale blubber, a thick layer of fatty tissue under the skin, was a primary source of oil before the extensive use of vegetable oils and petroleum. Baleen, or whalebone, a horny substance found in the mouths of some kinds of whales, was used for making corset stays and fans before the invention of celluloid and other plastic substances.

There are many kinds of whales, ranging in size from the 5-foot (1.5-m) harbor dolphin to the blue whale, which may reach a length of more than 100 feet (30 m). The largest whales may weigh up to 140 tons. Whales are found in all seas and in many coastal waters.

How Do Whales Differ from Other Mammals?

All whales are mammals, but they differ from other mammals in some obvious ways.

Most mammals have four legs. A whale has no hind legs. And instead of front legs, a whale has flippers. These help the whale steer and keep its balance. A whale also has a tail fin that spreads out into two wings, or flukes. On its back, this killer whale has a triangular-shaped fin, called a dorsal fin. Fish have fins—but most mammals do not.

Most mammals have hair on their bodies. But toothed whales have only a few bristles—or none at all. Many toothed whales have long snouts, called beaks, and bulging foreheads, or melons.

Whales are like other mammals in some ways, however. They have lungs and breathe air—just as you do. They are warm-blooded, or make their own body heat. Babies nurse on their mothers’ milk

Description

Whales have sleek, virtually hairless bodies that taper from head to tail. They range in color from black through gray to white. The whale balances itself and steers with its flippers, or forelimbs. It swims with its powerful tail, which makes up a third of its total length. The tail ends in a pair of horizontal flukes that bend as the tail moves up and down, driving the animal through the water at great speeds.

There is no outward division of the whale's body, but the skeleton is divided into head, trunk, and tail parts. The flipper bones are similar to those of the foreleg and hand (or forefoot) of land mammals, but have been modified for water living. Whales have vestigial hindlegs buried in their flesh, indicating that there was an ancestor who walked on four legs. Scientific studies indicate this animal was probably a mammal with hooves.

What Is Under All That Blubber?

Blubber is the layer of fat under a whale’s skin. Under all their blubber, whales are a lot like other mammals. Their nervous, digestive, and circulatory systems are very much like those of other mammals.

Their brain is highly complex and encased in a hard skull that is connected to a spinal cord. They have a stomach and intestines through which food is processed and a heart that pumps blood.

Whales are also wonderfully adapted to life in the sea. Because of their size, shape, and blubber, they are able to keep warm, even in the frigid polar oceans. And, they can store huge amounts of oxygen in their blood and muscles, so they are able to stay underwater for a very long time.

Baleen whales have bony skeletons, but their lightweight bones would not be strong enough to support them if they lived on land. The seawater that surrounds them helps to support their large bodies.

Whales often submerge far into the cold depths of the sea. They are protected from cold by their blubber, which is tough and acts as a cushion as well as an insulating material. Whales have small outer ears, but can hear well because water is a good conductor of sound. Whales' eyes are relatively small also, and they can see better below than above the water's surface.

Whales make a variety of sounds to communicate, and certain whales (the toothed whales) make sounds for echolocation. (Echolocation is similar in principle to sonar; the whale emits high-frequency sounds that, when reflected back to the whale, allow it to locate underwater objects.)

How Do Whales Communicate?

Baleen whales communicate with sounds and their bodies. Many baleen whales, including blue whales, make low-pitched calls that humans cannot hear. These vocalizations can travel hundreds of miles. The true function of these long-distance calls is unknown, but scientists think they allow whales to communicate even when they cannot see each other. Vocalizations are probably used in courtship and perhaps to navigate during migration.

Body language also is an important means of communicating. Whales may breach—leap out of the water—to express aggression or distress, or calves will do it out of playfulness. Another common form of body language whales use is slapping their tail on the surface—this behavior is called lobtailing. A whale may use this signal as a warning, or to let other whales know of its location in the water.

The whale's lungs and windpipe are connected only to its nasal passages, not to its mouth. Thus it can eat under water without drowning. The outer opening of the nasal passages, called the blowhole, is on top of the whale's head. Before a whale sounds (dives), it fills its lungs with air and closes its blowhole. The whale's lungs are large in proportion to its body, and are equipped with a specialized network of blood vessels that work slowly to use up all the oxygen in the lungs. Because of this well-adapted respiratory system, a whale can stay submerged for an hour or more. When the whale surfaces, it exhales warm, moist air into the colder air, making a column of steam called the spout.

What Is Spouting?

When a whale is swimming underwater, it is holding its breath. Try holding your breath for a moment. Soon you will want to resume breathing. How do you do this? You exhale. Only then can you inhale new air. Whales do the same, but they are much better at storing oxygen in their bodies than are humans. So, they can go longer periods between breaths.

When a whale exhales, it ejects a powerful blast of moist air. This is called a spout or a blow. The whale you see here is spouting.

Different species of whales have differently shaped spouts. The spout of a right whale, for example, is shaped like a giant V, while that of a gray whale looks like a single, broad cloud of mist.

Do Whales Have Belly Buttons?

Like other mammals, female baleen whales give birth to live young. Baby whales grow inside their mother’s womb and receive oxygen and vital nutrients through the umbilical cord, which is attached to their mother’s circulatory system.

The umbilical cord on a human baby is cut after a baby is born. The umbilical cord of a baleen whale breaks automatically as a calf’s head emerges from its mother’s body during the birth process. Whales are usually born fluke—or tail—first, unlike people, who most often come out head first. The place where the umbilical cord was once attached to the baby is called the navel, or belly button. So, yes, whales have belly buttons, too.

Habits

Whales are divided into two groups—baleen whales and toothed whales—by their eating mechanisms and habits. A baleen whale has two rows of baleen plates (horny outgrowths of skin) lining the roof of its mouth. It swims open-mouthed to gather krill (shrimp-like crustaceans and larvae). Then it closes its mouth and forces out the water with its tongue. The baleen plates act as sieves to hold the krill. A toothed whale catches larger prey, such as fish and squids, with its cone-shaped teeth. All whales swallow their prey whole. A whale's stomach is divided into a number of consecutive compartments. The first compartments grind and crush food; the others secrete gastric juices, which break food down further.

How Can You Tell It’s a Baleen Whale?

You can tell a shark or a large fish from either kind of whale by watching how the animal’s tail moves. Sharks and other large fish move their tails from side to side when they swim. They “snake” through the water. But, a whale pushes itself through the water by moving its tail up and down.

If the animal moves its tail up and down and makes quick movements through the water, then it is probably a dolphin or other type of toothed whale. A baleen whale is not as agile as these animals. And, baleen whales usually are much larger than toothed whales.

You can also identify a baleen whale by its blowholes. A baleen whale has two blowholes on the top of its head. Dolphins and other toothed whales have one.

Of course, it’s easy to tell a baleen whale if its mouth is open. Just look for the baleen plates!

Whales are playful and affectionate with one another. Most species are monogamous and mate for life. The bull (male) stays near the cow (female) and protects her and the calf (offspring). Cows are defensive and will not leave a calf that has been injured. Cows usually give birth to one calf (occasionally two) after a gestation period of 10 to 17 months, depending on the species. Life span also depends on the species and ranges from about 20 to 100 years.

Some whales travel singly, but most travel in small schools. Some species migrate with the seasons in search of food and to give birth. Whales sometimes beach themselves when sick or injured, or when they misinterpret their echolocation signals. Some scientists believe that the earth's magnetism may play a role in the beaching of whales. The brains of whales contain magnetite, an ironbearing mineral that can be magnetized. It is believed that irregularities in the earth's magnetic field can cause whales to become disoriented and beach themselves.

Do Whales Drink Water?

Like people, baleen whales don’t drink salt water. Salt water is harmful to them the same way it is harmful to us. Salt water causes dehydration—that is, an excessive loss of water from the body. Seals, sea lions, toothed and baleen whales—all marine mammals get water from foods they eat. Like most animals, the krill and fish that whales eat are mostly made up of water. A fish is a great source of water for a whale, because the water in a fish’s body isn’t salty. Krill, however, is quite salty. But whales have kidneys that are especially adapted to separating out the excess salt that enters the whales’ blood from its food. This salt is then released in their urine.

A whale’s blubber layer is another source of water. When whales do not have access to food, they “drink” what they need from their blubber stores. A thin whale risks not only starvation, but also dying of thirst.

Baleen, or Whalebone, Whales

Gray Whales

Gray whales are found in the North Pacific. They grow to about 50 feet (15 m) in length and are grayish with white mottling. Their bodies are typically encrusted with barnacles and whale lice. Gray whales migrate from the Bering and Chukchi Seas in the Arctic to southern California. It is the longest migration of any mammal, with a round-trip distance of 10,000 miles (16,000 km). In migrating, schools of gray whales come so close to shore that watching them is a major tourist attraction in California. In the early 1900's gray whales were on the verge of extinction, but the population is now stable.

Which Whale Migrates Off the West Coast of the United States?

Gray whales migrate between the Bering Sea off Alaska and the shallow bays of Baja California, Mexico. During their migration, they swim along the coasts of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California.

Their migration is one of the longest in the animal kingdom. Some gray whales swim 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) one way. The females are especially impressive because they make one migration journey while pregnant and another soon after giving birth.

Because they feed on bottom animals, gray whales stay closer to shore than other whales. For this reason, whale watchers on the West Coast often see more gray whales than other species, such as blue whales.

Gray whales used to live off the East Coast of the United States. That population is now extinct. Today, a small population still lives off the coast of Asia, and these whales migrate between the coasts of Russia and southern China.

Rorquals

Rorquals have dorsal fins and long grooves running lengthwise in the skin of the throat. Among these whales—most of which have been hunted to near extinction—are the following:

Blue Whale, or Sulfurbottom,

the largest animal that has ever lived. Blue whales grow to more than 100 feet (30 m) in length and reach a weight of about 140 tons (127,000 kg). The blue whale is mainly bluegray with light spots. The name sulfurbottom comes from the fact that the underside of the whale commonly becomes coated with yellowish microscopic algae. Blue whales swim at a top speed of about 30 mph (48 km/h).

The blue whale grows to more than 100 feet in length and weighs 140 tons.Just How Big Are Blue Whales Anyway?

A blue whale’s heart is the size of a small car. Its tongue weighs as much as an elephant. A toddler could easily fit into one of its blowholes. A single blue whale is heavier than a group of 1,600 average-sized people.

Blue whales are not just big, they are absolutely, incredibly, and astoundingly huge—bigger than any dinosaur that ever lived. A blue whale can reach 100 feet (30 meters) in length and may tip the scales at 300,000 pounds (136,000 kilograms).

As with all baleen whales, female blue whales are larger than males.

What Do Blue Whales Eat to Get So Big?

Krill for breakfast. Krill for lunch. Krill for dinner. Blue whales that spend the summer months in cold polar waters eat a whole lot of one thing—krill.

Krill resemble shrimp. They have long antennae, dark eyes, and delicate, almost transparent (see-through), bodies. Some kinds of krill are much smaller than the shrimp people eat. These krill, which are the type blue whales eat, have bodies about half as long as a penny is across.

Krill make good whale food because of their abundance and high nutritional value. Pound for pound, krill contain as much protein as red meat, and they contain all the energy, trace minerals, and vitamins that blue whales require.

It does, however, take a lot of krill to fill a hungry whale. During the summer feeding season, a blue whale may devour over 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) of krill a day.

Why Are Blue Whales Called Gulpers?

When blue whales feed, they take huge gulps of water. For this reason, they are called gulpers.

Like all rorqual whales, blue whales have pleats on their throat that expand just like an accordion. By gulping, they transform their throat into a giant pouch. By pressing their tongue against their baleen, the whales squeeze out the water. Then they eat the krill that remain trapped against the baleen.

Humpback, sei, minke, and fin whales are also “gulpers.” Right whales and bowhead whales, however, are “skimmers.” They swim slowly near the sea surface, continuously straining seawater through their baleen.

The gray whale is different from all the other baleen whales in its feeding habits. Gray whales eat the tiny animals from the mud and sand on the floor of the ocean. To do this, the whales plow the bottom of the sea with their heads and suck up huge scoops of muck.

Do Blue Whales Get Cold or Hot?

Blue whales inhabit some of the coldest waters and some of the warmest waters on the planet. Yet, they maintain a constant body temperature of about 98 degrees Fahrenheit (36.6 degrees Celsius), nearly the same as our body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius).

Amazingly, blue whales are so well adapted for cold temperatures that it is easy for them to keep warm in cold waters. The shape and large size of a blue whale’s body help it to retain heat. Normally, a blue whale has very little blood in its body’s outer layers, and this also helps the whale to keep body heat inside.

Blue whales actually have a harder time getting rid of excess heat. So, unlike other whales, they don’t need as thick a layer of blubber. A blue whale’s blubber is only 6 inches (15 centimeters) thick, whereas some other whales are covered in a 20-inch (51-centimeter) layer. A blue whale may get rid of excess heat by sending more blood than normal to its skin surface, which cools the whale’s blood.

Does a Blue Whale Have a Good Sense of Sight, Hearing, Touch, and Smell?

Blue whales and other baleen whales have good eyesight. Unlike the round eyes of humans, however, baleen whales have eyes that are flattened in the front. This eye shape is better for seeing in a dim, underwater habitat.

Baleen whales also have amazing hearing. They hear sounds that are inaudible to humans. A whale’s ear doesn’t look like it would be so sensitive to sound. Its ear looks like a tiny hole in the side of its head. There is no ear lobe or outer ear.

Touch is another sense that is very well developed in these whales. A baleen whale’s skin is very sensitive to touch.

Though whales can see, hear, and feel, scientists are not certain if they have any sense of smell.

Do Blue Whales Have Enemies?

An animal as large as a blue whale has few natural enemies. Only diseased or young blue whales are at risk of being attacked by sharks or killer whales.

Newborn whales are the most vulnerable because they are small and swim slowly. Mother whales swim beside their young, shielding them from predators.

If a group of killer whales targets a young whale, however, it is a challenge to protect it. Lacking teeth, claws, or tusks, blue whales have only their size—and powerful tail—to ward off attack. Killer whales will rip small chunks of flesh from a young or sick whale until it finally dies.

It is humans, however, and not killer whales, that have been the most dangerous enemy of blue whales. Hunting and water pollution have killed many whales.

What Is a Baby Blue Whale’s Life Like?

For the first year or so, a calf stays with its mother. After that, it is independent. Though blue whales don’t have a long childhood, blue whale mothers are very attentive while they care for their young. A mother never leaves her young calf until the calf is ready to set out on its own.

Eating is an important part of a young blue whale’s life. A newborn calf weighs about 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms). Nursing on its mother’s fatty milk, it gains about 200 pounds (90 kilograms) a day. By the time it is 7 months old, it will be about 50 feet (15 meters) long and will weigh about 46,000 pounds (21,000 kilograms)—it is then ready to begin feeding on krill.

Nursing a young whale is extremely taxing on a mother whale. A mother whale may lose as much as 100,000 pounds (45,400 kilograms), possibly as much as one-third of her body weight, while nursing.

Are Blue Whales and Other Baleens Social Animals?

After a blue whale calf separates from its mother, a blue whale will spend most of its time alone. Blue whales are rarely seen in the large groups that are common to dolphins, killer whales, and other toothed whales.

Biologists sometimes see pairs of blue whales swimming and feeding together. These pairs will usually consist of a female and a male, or a female and its calf.

Like the blue whale, most other baleen whales spend much of their time alone. However, humpback, right, and gray whales are known to form small groups. These groups may contain a dozen or so whales feeding and traveling together.

Do Blue Whales Have Any Relatives on Land?

You may be surprised to learn that a blue whale’s closest living relatives on land include pigs, deer, and hippopotamuses. The first whales, which appeared more than 50 million years ago, had evolved from primitive hoofed mammals.

The early ancestors of whales had teeth, lived on land, and had four legs that ended in hoofs. They foraged for food in shallow coastal waters. Slowly, over millions of years, the body shape of these animals changed. Front legs developed into flippers. Back legs disappeared. The nostrils moved to the back of the snout, becoming blowholes.

Amazingly, even modern whales show traces of their origins as walking land mammals. Baleen whales have tiny hipbones, which are all that remain of their back legs. And, a baleen whale fetus has teeth while it develops inside its mother. These teeth disappear before birth.

More Baleen Whales

Bryde's Whale,

a whale found in tropical and subtropical seas. It is dark bluish-gray and grows to about 45 feet (14 m) in length. It feeds on such fish as sardines and anchovies.

Fin Whale,

a slender whale with a small head. It is dark above and white below; the left side of its head is darker than the right. Fin whales grow to about 80 feet (24 m) in length.

Which Whale Moves the Fastest?

There are no Olympics for whales, so no one knows for sure how fast a whale can sprint if it really wants to. Biologists who study whales must estimate their speeds by watching them in the wild.

Fin whales are known for being excellent swimmers. They are sleek and shaped like a torpedo. They have less blubber for their size and more muscle than blue whales. Fin whales are called the “greyhounds of the sea” and are the second largest baleen whale after blue whales. Over short distances, fin whales reach speeds of 20 miles (32 kilometers) per hour.

Sei whales are another fast whale, long and lean like fin whales. Sei whales are known for explosive sprints. By some accounts, sei whales can swim 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour over short distances, making them faster than dolphins.

Blue whales are also strong swimmers, almost as fast as sei and fin whales.

Humpback,

a thick-bodied whale with unusually long nippers and a large, knobby head. It reaches about 60 feet (18 m) in length and is covered with barnacles. The name comes from its habit of humping its back when about to sound.

Which Whale Serenades Its Mate?

Male humpbacks are the opera singers of the ocean. A male humpback may growl, moan, whine, and make violinlike sounds, repeating the sounds in the same order continuously for hours, sometimes days. Portions of a song may be heard from hundreds of miles away by other whales.

Males sing during the breeding season. For this reason, biologists think the songs are meant to woo potential mates. They may also help to keep other males away.

Males from the same region sing a similar tune. So, it would seem a male whale learns his song from the other males in his area. Each male, however, modifies his song slowly over time, making it unique—yet it is still recognizable as a song of his group.

Which Whale Is Known for Its “Wings”?

Humpback whales have very long flippers, longer than any other baleen whale. They are so long that they look like small airplane wings. Measured from the body of the whale to the tip of the flipper, a flipper can be 17 feet (5 meters) in length.

Most of the time, humpback whales use their flippers as giant paddles. Flippers help the whale steer and balance while swimming.

Sometimes though, it looks as if flippers could be used as wings. Humpback whales are the most acrobatic of all the baleen whales. They often hurl themselves out of the water head first. For a brief second, you think they really will fly. But, of course, they don’t, and they splash back into the ocean. Humpbacks also like to slap their tails on the surface, making loud sounds and giant splashes.

What Is a Bubble Net?

Humpback whales eat a variety of foods, including many kinds of krill and small fish that live in groups called schools. To help drive large amounts of krill and fish into small, easy-to-eat clusters, humpback whales make nets by blowing bubbles. To make a bubble net, a humpback whale first dives beneath a school of fish or krill. It then blows columns of bubbles as it circles below. Slowly, it spirals upward around the prey, creating a cylinder of bubbles with its prey trapped inside.

When the net is complete, the whale will open its mouth wide and lunge at the center of its bubble net. Often, several humpbacks will work together—one makes the bubble net while the others feed.

Minke Whale,

a small whale reaching about 30 feet (9 m) in length. It has a pointed snout. It is grayish black above and white below with white bands across the flippers. It is one of the most abundant species and is the one caught most frequently by whale hunters.

Are All Baleen Whales Huge?

Not all baleen whales are huge. But compared with animals on land, even a small baleen whale is big.

The pygmy right whale is the smallest baleen whale. Females reach lengths of about 20 feet (6 meters) and can weigh 7,500 pounds (3,400 kilograms). This is still quite a bit larger than a hippopotamus, for example, which weighs up to 5,800 pounds (2,630 kilograms).

Besides being relatively small, pygmy whales are mysterious. People rarely see them. Dead pygmy whales have washed up on Australian, South African, and South American shores, leading scientists to think pygmy whales probably live south of the equator. But this is only a guess. Scientists know very little about the range of pygmy whales or where they feed and breed.

The next smallest baleen whale is the minke whale. Minke whales grow to be about 33 feet (10 meters) long and may weigh up to 20,000 pounds (9,100 kilograms).

All the other baleen whales are longer than 40 feet (12 meters). Because baleen whales are so big, they are sometimes referred to as “the great whales.”

Sei Whales

are found in almost all seas. They grow up to about 60 feet (18 m) long and resemble fin whales and Bryde's whales, to which they are related. They can swim almost as fast as blue whales.

Right Whales

These whales were considered the "right" ones to hunt in early whaling days because they were easily overtaken, they floated after they were killed, and they yielded great quantities of oil and baleen. There are three species: the right whale; the bowhead, or Greenland right whale; and the Pygmy right whale. Right whales are commonly called either northern or southern right whales, referring to the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They range from 20 to 60 feet (6 to 18 m) in length, and are usually black with white underparts.

Which Whales Have the Longest Baleens?

Bowhead and right whales have the longest baleens. These whales are rounder and fatter than blue whales, and they have huge heads. The baleen of these whales can be 7 to 13 feet (2 to 4 meters) long. Huge strands of baleen let a right whale strain greater volumes of water as it feeds. Instead of gulping water, as do blue whales, bowhead and right whales swim slowly with their mouths open and catch tiny floating organisms called copepods.

Right whales swim so slowly that barnacles and other small organisms are able to live on their skin. The barnacles survive by capturing and eating other tiny organisms floating in the water. Other types of organisms, such as whale lice, feed on the whale’s skin. Luckily for the whales, these whale lice don’t appear to cause much harm. Right whales usually have patches of organisms growing on their face. So do some other baleen whales, such as humpback and gray whales.

Where in the World Do Blue Whales and Other Baleens Live?

Some baleens, for example, blue whales, live in all the oceans. Their summer feeding areas are in or near the waters of the cold polar regions. In winter, blue whales and the other baleen whales that live in the polar regions migrate to breed and give birth in the comforting warmth of the tropics. Sometimes migrating whales travel thousands of miles between their winter and summer habitats.

Some baleen whales, however, do not migrate. Bowhead whales, for example, never leave the Arctic Ocean, while Bryde’s whales spend their entire lives in warm tropical and subtropical waters.

Do Baleen Whales Sleep?

Baleen whales do sleep, but scientists know very little about how they sleep. And, they can’t sleep deeply the way people and other land mammals do. Whales must come to the surface of the water to breathe, so they can’t stay motionless in the water for long periods.

The brain of a baleen whale, like the human brain, has two sides—a right and a left hemisphere.

When a whale sleeps, scientists think only one side of the brain rests at a time. The other side stays awake to direct the whale to the surface for air. By letting one side of the brain rest, whales catch a nap without drowning. Both baleen whales and toothed whales sleep with half a brain awake.

When sleeping, whales sometimes position themselves near the water’s surface so they can pop up easily for air.

What Colors Are Baleen Whales?

Baleen whales are not colorful animals. They do not come in the vibrant purples, reds, greens, and yellows of tropical fish. Most whales are different shades of gray. Typically, a baleen whale has a dark gray back and a lighter gray underside.

Blue whales look blue underwater but actually are speckled blue-gray and white. Tiny yellow organisms sometimes grow on their undersides, making their bellies look yellow. These tiny organisms do not affect the whale at all.

Gray whales are gray with lots of white splotches. These splotches are not their natural skin coloring; they are caused by barnacles and other organisms growing on their skin. A barnacle is a small, round shellfish commonly found on boat hulls.

Humpback whales are black on top and white underneath. Bowhead and right whales are nearly all black.

Toothed Whales

Sperm Whales

These whales are aggressive. Males have been known to ram and sink whaling ships. Sperm whales grow to about 60 feet (18 m) in length and are dark bluish-gray above, light gray below. The sperm whale has a large, rectangular head with teeth only in the lower jaw. It is the only polygamous species of whale.

Sperm whales yield an oil of fine quality, which has been used to lubricate watches, clocks, and scientific instruments; a wax (spermaceti), which has been used in candle-making, soaps, and cosmetics; and ambergris, which has been used in making perfume.

What Is a Toothed Whale?

As you might expect, a toothed whale has teeth. Oddly enough, some toothed whales have only one tooth, while others have more than 200. All whales belong to an order of mammals called cetaceans (suh TAY shuhnz). Cetaceans are divided into two suborders: toothed whales and baleen (BAY leen) whales. Baleen whales have no teeth at all.

The killer whale is a toothed whale. It belongs to the family of whales called ocean dolphins. Bottle-nosed dolphins and pilot whales also belong to this family. There are several other families of toothed whales. These include porpoises, river dolphins, beaked whales, sperm whales, and belugas (buh LOO guhz) and narwhals.

Beaked Whales

Most common of these widely distributed whales is the North Atlantic bottle-nosed whale. It has a bulging forehead and grows to about 30 feet (9 m) in length.

What Is a Beaked Whale?

Most beaked whales have long, slender bodies. Many have only two teeth in their lower jaws. Most have no upper teeth at all.

A Baird’s beaked whale can be up to 42 feet (13 meters) long. It’s probably the largest of the beaked whales. It has a long beak—which looks a lot like the beak of a bottled-nosed dolphin. Males of this species have two pairs of teeth in their lower jaws. Scientists think that beaked whales use their teeth for fighting rather than for feeding. They may feed by sucking up their prey, which consists mostly of squid.

Most beaked whales live offshore, in deep waters. Of all whales, beaked whales are among the deepest divers. And their dives can last more than an hour. But they are not very fast swimmers.

Dolphins and Porpoises

The largest of these is the killer whale, a dolphin.

Belugas and Narwhals

Toothed whales found in the Arctic.

Where in the World Do Toothed Whales Live?

Like fish, whales spend their entire lives in water. Their bodies are sleek and shaped like torpedoes. They’re perfectly suited for life in a watery world, where swimming is the best way to get around.

Toothed whales live in all the oceans of the world. Some, however, prefer deep water to shallow water. Sperm whales like deep water—as do beaked whales.

Dall’s porpoises also like the open seas. But most other porpoises seem to prefer shallow coastal waters. They are often seen in harbors and other inlets. Belugas and narwhals also hug the coast. But they like the pack ice around the North Pole.

River dolphins live in some of the world’s large river systems. Ocean dolphins prefer the open seas. But, only the killer whale has a truly worldwide habitat. It is found in all the oceans and seas of the world.

Who Is the King of Toothed Whales?

A killer whale is big—but a sperm whale is even bigger. It can weigh as much as 55 tons (50 metric tons). An adult male sperm whale grows to about 60 feet (18 meters) long. That’s twice the length of a killer whale! In size, the sperm whale is indeed the king of toothed whales.

Sperm whales also make the deepest and the longest dives of all toothed whales. Sperm whales dive to find their favorite prey—deep-water squids. Scientists think the whales may have some terrible battles with giant squids. Scientists think this because of the scars they have seen on the bodies of the whales.

Sperm whales spend most of their lives in a nursery school or a bachelor school. A nursery school is made up of adult females and their young. A bachelor school is made up of young males only. When a male sperm whale becomes an adult, he leaves the bachelor school and lives on his own.

The Whaling Industry

In Earlier Times

Stone Age peoples of both hemispheres hunted whales in small rowboats, caught them with harpoons of bone or stone, and killed them with lances and arrows. Whaling did not become an industry, however, until the Middle Ages. The Basques hunted whales in the Bay of Biscay as early as the 11th century, and during the next three or four centuries spread their operations into arctic waters. They were probably the first commercial whalers. When other Europeans took to whaling, they hired Basques to man their ships and process their catch. During the 17th century a great whaling industry was centered in Svalbard (Spitsbergen).

In those early days, whaling was done in rowboats and small sailing vessels that did not venture far from shore. Right whales were the ones usually hunted, and they were towed to shore. Processing consisted of flensing (stripping the blubber from skin and flesh) and trying-out (boiling) the blubber to extract the oil.

As whales became scarce in one area, whalers would seek other waters. In time, large ships sailed far out into the ocean in pursuit of right whales and sperm whales. These whaling ships were equipped to process their catch on board.

New England became the center of the whaling industry in the early 19th century, and whalers from New England sailed the high seas the world over. Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick (1851) paints a vivid picture of whaling in this period. The discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania in the 1850's marked the decline of New England whaling, because mineral oil soon became cheaper to produce than whale oil.

Modern Whaling

Technological developments in the 19th and 20th centuries greatly increased the efficiency of whaling. The explosive harpoon, invented in 1868, made it much easier to kill whales. The factory ship, introduced in 1925, made it possible to process a large number of whales in a relatively short time. Later, sonar and aircraft observation made it easier to locate whales. The materials obtained from whales were used to make a variety of commercial products, including cosmetics, soap, lubricants, livestock feed, and fertilizer. Due to large-scale whaling operations, many species of whales became endangered.

In 1946, the major whaling countries formed the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to regulate the number and types of whales killed. In 1986, the IWC banned all commercial whaling. However, three member countries—Norway, Iceland, and Japan—continued to take some whales under an exemption that allows whales to be caught for research purposes. These countries believe that commercial whaling should be allowed for relatively plentiful species, such as the minke.

Iceland, intending to resume commercial whaling, resigned from the IWC in 1992. In 1993, Norway resumed commercial whaling in violation of the IWC ban. Since 1972, when the Marine Mammal Protection Act took effect, the United States has prohibited whaling (except by the indigenous peoples of Alaska). The act also bans the importation of whale products.

Other threats to whale populations are the commercial harvesting of krill and the release into the ocean of toxic industrial and agricultural pollutants.

Are Baleen Whales in Danger?

Sadly, baleen whales are in danger. Industrial whaling fleets in the 1800’s and 1900’s slaughtered too many whales. Some species may never recover. Blue, fin, humpback, and right whales are all in danger of becoming extinct.

Through an international pact, most countries, including the United States, no longer hunt whales. A few, such as Norway and Japan, still do.

Whaling, however, is not the only human activity that makes the seas unsafe for whales. Ships and boats sometimes collide with whales. Whales can also become entangled in fishing nets and drown. Other dangers to whales include the overfishing of krill by humans and pollution in ocean waters.

Not all whales are endangered. Some have been able to recover from the era of whaling. The gray whale has been one success story. It was recently removed from the U.S. endangered species list.

Are Toothed Whales in Danger?

The toothed whales most in danger are the river dolphins. People have killed many of these animals. People have also destroyed the animals’ habitats. Scientists fear that the Baiji dolphins of China may soon become extinct.

The vaquita (vuh KEE tuh) porpoise, which lives in the Gulf of California, is also highly endangered. There may be only a few hundred of them left.

Sperm whales have been endangered for over 30 years. These great animals had been hunted almost to the point of extinction. Then, in 1984, a law was passed to ban commercial whaling. It is hoped that this law will help the sperm whales continue to increase in numbers.

Conservationists have been working hard to save the whales. But some whalers, as well as some nations, continue to hunt whales. And so the future of these magnificent animals remains uncertain.

How Do Scientists Study Whales?

Studying whales is a challenge. They live underwater and are constantly on the move.

All sorts of basic biological information about whales can be difficult to gather. Whales are so huge, it is nearly impossible to weigh them in the wild. Males and females look very similar.

Whales also make noises that people cannot hear. It takes special equipment to listen to whales’ calls and songs. Yet another challenge, a blue whale may live 50, 60, or even more than 70 years, which is much longer than the span of a biologist’s career.

Despite these obstacles, biologists do study whales. They observe them from boats and also from planes. More recently, scientists have begun tagging whales and using satellites to track their movements. From the satellite data, scientists can see how far a whale swims in a day and how deep it dives. They can also follow its migration routes and its behaviors at night.

Whales make up the order Cetacea and are sometimes called cetaceans. Baleen whales are of the suborder Mysticeti; toothed whales, of the suborder Odontoceti.

The gray whale is Eschrichtius robustus of the family Eschrichtidae. The blue whale is Balaenoptera musculus; Bryde's, B. edeni; fin, B. physalus; minke, B. acutorostrata; sei, B. boredlis; humpback, Megaptera novaeangliae. All belong to the family Balaenopteridae. The northern and southern right whales are Balaena glacialis (or Eubalaena glacialis); bowhead, B. mysticetus; pygmy, Capereamarginata. All belong to the family Balaenidae. The sperm whale is Physeter catodon of the family Physeteridae. The North Atlantic bottle-nosed whale is Hyperoodon amputtaius of the family Ziphiidae.