- What are whales?
- Whale characteristics
- Where do whales live?
- What do whales eat?
- How do whales reproduce?
- How long do whales live?
We explain what whales are, what their habitat is, how they reproduce and what their diet is like. Also, how long do they live.
What are whales?
Whales are a group of mammals marine cetaceans, of which four are known to date species different. However, the term "whale" is in common use for any large cetacean, such as sperm whales. Humanity has known these animals since ancient times and was often inspired by them to fable mythological sea monsters.
These are marine life animals of a large size, among whose species are the largest living animals on the planet (the blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus).
Like all mammals, whales are warm-blooded animals and breathing capable of spending long periods of time submerged and then coming to the surface to replenish their air reserves and expel the water from their lungs by means of a jet that rises through the air, and which is one of the typical features of their presence .
Whales are often considered a kind of immense "sea cows", that is, tame animals that roam the deep seas, and that do not represent any danger to humanity, or to other species beyond the small organisms of which feed.
Whale characteristics
Broadly speaking, whales are characterized by the following:
- They are very bulky animals, one of the largest that exist on the planet, whose bodies can exceed, depending on the species, a wingspan of 35 meters and hundreds of tons. There are also smaller species, which can be around 3 meters long and weigh much less.
- They are marine mammals, that is, warm-blooded and air-breathing animals, for which they have two holes (spiracles) at the top of their head, through which they can expel accumulated water and carry out gas exchange. For this last reason they have a vertically arranged tail, which allows them to rapidly ascend and descend.
- There are two types of whales: baleen, like the blue whale, and toothed, like the sperm whale. The former feed by filtering the water, the latter instead devour their prey.
- They have massive bodies, covered with a layer of fat that insulates their entrails from the cold waters of the deep sea, and they are capable of holding their breath for 45 minutes and reaching depths of almost a kilometer.
Strictly speaking, the four known species of whale are:
- The Greenland whale (Balaena mysticetus)
- The southern right whale (Eubalaena australis)
- The glacial right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)
- The Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica)
Where do whales live?
The different species of whales choose habitats different, almost always in deep waters of the different oceans. For example, blue whales prefer the North Atlantic, while gray whales the east and west of the northern Pacific Ocean.
Many species are migrants, so they spend long periods of time in one place, but they go to specific places to reproduce, as is the case with the southern right whale that visits the Argentine Atlantic coasts for several months of the year.
What do whales eat?
In general, whales are carnivorous, although their respective diets usually consist of small fish, crustaceans tiny (like the krill) and zooplankton, which filter from the waters thanks to the set of barbs they possess and which measure from 5 to 25 cm in length. Instead, toothed species can feed on squid and other deep-sea cephalopods.
How do whales reproduce?
Like all mammals, whales are reproduce by way of sexual Y viviparous, with long gestations of almost a year at the end of which a single calf is born. The latter, at birth, measure about 5 meters and weigh around three thousand kilos, in the most voluminous species, and they feed on mother's milk during their first years of life.
How long do whales live?
The average lifespan of a whale is around 30 to 40 years, although it is known that some particularly bulky species can reach 200 years of age, thanks to their metabolisms particularly slow, like the Greenland whale.