whalesHeck yeah.

Whale singing! =D (communication)Whale songs are a series of different themes

given in a predictable order.Sailors heard the songs and likened them to

canaries singing, giving whales the nickname “sea canaries”

Serve as a means of communicationOnly male humpbacks sing; it is used when

looking for matesAlso communicate visually and through touchMay also communicate through smell—hasn’t

been discovered yet whether that is true

Basic whale vocabularyBlow—exhalation as whales blow air through their blowholeBreaching—jumping almost completely out of the water

headfirstSounding—a technique used by whales for long divesLobtail—tail slappingPod—a group of whales“Topside”– dorsal, or backsideFlukes—lobes on a whale’s tail; used primarily for swimmingRostrum—long flat ridge on the dorsal side of a baleen

whale’s headVentral pleats—grooves on the underside of the mouth that

expand when feeding so the mouth can hold more waterSplash guard—keeps water from getting into the blowhole

Baleen vs.…Baleen is organized into plates that hang

down from the outer edges of the palate and are constantly regenerated

Composed of keratin—same protein that forms hair, fingernails, and horns

Baleen plates composed of a line of bristles surrounded by a layer of keratin which continually wears away and is replaced

Bristles trap any prey sucked into the mouth while water is filtered out through the baleen

…toothed whales!(who will win?!)

Use teeth to grab prey and swallows wholeCetaceans (toothed whales) have one set of

teeth that they are born withTusk – a pointed tooth long enough to

protrude out o the mouth when the jaw is closed

Narwhals are like beavers—they have two small tooth buds in their upper jaws and none on the bottom jaw

Different feeding habitshttp://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=avwKqYDIJew&feature=related

Migration Not all whales migrateMigration occurs as whales take advantage of

summer feeding grounds in polar watersReturn to equatorial waters in the winter to

breedHazards of migration: seasonal storms which

affect both adults and calves; food is scarce in certain areas; and whale hunting.

In general, whales migrate toward the poles in summer and toward the equator in winter (March and April=North, September and October=South)

Namish shtuffWhale—comes from the Anglo-Saxon hwael (“large

fish”)Porpoise—comes from Latin phrase porcus(“hog”) +

piscis (“fish”); translates into “sea pig”Dolphin—comes from the Greek delphin= common

dolphin, Delphinus delphisCetacean—comes from Greek root ketos(“any large

sea animal”)Mysticeti(baleen whales)—comes from the Greek

mystax(“upper lip” or “mustache”) + ketos(“whale”)Odontoceti(toothed whales)—comes from latin word

meaning “tooth”

Types of Some Whales

NAME ENDANGERED POPULATION GENUS MIGRATION LOCATIONS

Bowhead Whale NO 8,000 Balaena East Asia, North of North America, West and North Europe

N. Atlantic right Whale YES 300 Eubalaena East coast of America

N. Pacific right Whale YES 200 Eubalaena West coast of North America and East Asia

Southern Whale YES 7,000 Eubalaena Migrates all through the Southern ocean

Blue Whale YES 5,000 Balaenoptera East Asia, South Alaska, and Western North America

Fin Whale YES 64,000 Balaenoptera Around South America, South Australia, North of Antarctica

Grey Whale NO 26,000 Eschrichtius Baja California, coast of California, Alaska, Bering Sea (LONGET MIGRATION OF ALL WHALES)

Humpback Whale NO 80,000 Megaptera Southern Coasts of Australia, Africa, and South America, East Asia, West and East of North America

Orca (Killer Whale) NO 100,000 Orcinus Coast of California, Alaska, Bering Sea

Sperm Whale NO 200,000–2,000,000 Physeter Coasts of the Americas, North and West of Europe

Peduncle throw - In a peduncle throw, the humpback converts its forward momentum into a crack-the-whip rotation, pivoting with its pectorals as it drives its head downward and thrusts its entire fluke and peduncle (the muscular rear portion of

the torso) out of the water and sideways, before crashing into the water with terrific forcehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzyRdBVy5W8

Logging - Logging is a behavior that whales exhibit when at rest.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76SONBFD4bI

Lobtailing or Slapping - Lobtailing is the act of a whale or dolphin lifting its flukes out of the water and then bringing them down onto the surface of the water hard and fast in order to make a loud slap.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFfwUA-yN74

Spyhopping - When a whale pops his head out of the water, usually to spot landmarks.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNguHLLMPGQ

Breaching, lunging, and porpoising - When a whale jumps out of the water and does a front or black flip out of the water.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HoZ4q1mkRY

There. Whales.