The Physical Activities of a Whale

Objects of fascination for the human race since biblical times, whale are mammals that lead a soft and tranquil existence. Although whales are often thought of as huge animals, many are relatively small and include porpoises and dolphins. For years, researchers have been impressed by the whale's unique method of communicating with one another as well as their behavior toward one another. Whale watching is business that capitalizes on people's fascination and awe of the size of these humongous creatures.

  1. Activities

    • Whales are intelligent and social animals that migrate and travel in pods. Each member has a particular role to perform as long as it is in the pod. Whales communicate with one another using whale songs or high-pitched sounds that still fascinate researchers. General activities include socializing, foraging, resting, milling and displaying surface activity such as tail lobbing, breaching, and pectoral fin slaps. These activities are known as tactic behaviors.

    Types

    • Whales are in two categories, tooth and baleen. Toothed whales are not only large creatures, but include smaller species as well, such as dolphins, orcas and sperm whales. Toothed whale's consist of fish, squid and seals. The baleen is a type of whale that has plates instead of teeth. The plates perform as filters in their mouth, sucking up food and water and then separating food from the water by pushing the food up the plates.

    Size

    • The blue whale is the largest mammal ever to dwell on the face of the earth at 100 feet long, twice the size of any dinosaur. Whales were initially land dwelling creatures with four legs but re-entered the water and evolved over a course of millions of years. Whales gives birth to offspring like all other mammals and breath oxygen.

    Endangered

    • Despite the man's fascination with whales, he has hunted and killed them for their valuable meat, fat, oil and baleen plates. Whales, before international regulations arrived, nearly became extinct in many places in the world. More than two millions whales were slaughtered in the 1900s. At time of publication environmental organizations are working to preserve their existence and propagate the whales that remain.