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Whale

January 31, 2023

This article is about a marine mammal. For other uses, see Whale (disambiguation).

Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and porpoises. Dolphins and porpoises may be considered whales from a formal, cladistic perspective. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla, which consists of even-toed ungulates. Their closest non-cetacean living relatives are the hippopotamuses, from which they and other cetaceans diverged about 54 million years ago. The two parvorders of whales, baleen whales (Mysticeti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti), are thought to have had their last common ancestor around 34 million years ago. Mysticetes include four extant (living) families: Balaenopteridae (the rorquals), Balaenidae (right whales), Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale), and Eschrichtiidae (the grey whale). Odontocetes include the Monodontidae (belugas and narwhals), Physeteridae (the sperm whale), Kogiidae (the dwarf and pygmy sperm whale), and Ziphiidae (the beaked whales), as well as the six families of dolphins and porpoises which are not considered whales in the informal sense.

Whale
An informal group
within the infraorder Cetacea
Temporal range: Eocene - Present 50–0 Ma [1]
Southern right whale
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Clade: Cetaceamorpha
Infraorder: Cetacea
Groups included
Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa

Whales are fully aquatic, open-ocean creatures: they can feed, mate, give birth, suckle and raise their young at sea. In opposite to most animals, they can drink salt water, although they prefer water coming from their food.[2] Whales range in size from the 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) and 135 kilograms (298 lb) dwarf sperm whale to the 29.9 metres (98 ft) and 190 tonnes (210 short tons) blue whale, which is the largest known animal that has ever lived. The sperm whale is the largest toothed predator on Earth. Several whale species exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that the females are larger than males.

Baleen whales have no teeth; instead they have plates of baleen, fringe-like structures that enable them to expel the huge mouthfuls of water they take in, while retaining the krill and plankton they feed on. Because their heads are enormous—making up as much as 40% of their total body mass—and they have throat pleats that enable them to expand their mouths, they are able to take huge quantities of water into their mouth at a time. Baleen whales also have a well developed sense of smell.

Toothed whales, in contrast, have conical teeth adapted to catching fish or squid. They also have such keen hearing—whether above or below the surface of the water—that some can survive even if they are blind. Some species, such as sperm whales, are particularly well adapted for diving to great depths to catch squid and other favoured prey.

Whales evolved from land-living mammals, and must regularly surface to breathe air, although they can remain under water for long periods of time. Some species, such as the sperm whale, can stay underwater for up to 90 minutes [3] They have blowholes (modified nostrils) located on top of their heads, through which air is taken in and expelled. They are warm-blooded, and have a layer of fat, or blubber, under the skin. With streamlined fusiform bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers, whales can travel at speeds of up to 20 knots, though they are not as flexible or agile as seals. Whales produce a great variety of vocalizations, notably the extended songs of the humpback whale. Although whales are widespread, most species prefer the colder waters of the northern and southern hemispheres, and migrate to the equator to give birth. Species such as humpbacks and blue whales are capable of travelling thousands of miles without feeding. Males typically mate with multiple females every year, but females only mate every two to three years. Calves are typically born in the spring and summer; females bear all the responsibility for raising them. Mothers in some species fast and nurse their young for one to two years.

Once relentlessly hunted for their products, whales are now protected by international law. The North Atlantic right whales nearly became extinct in the twentieth century, with a population low of 450, and the North Pacific grey whale population is ranked Critically Endangered by the IUCN. Besides the threat from whalers, they also face threats from bycatch and marine pollution. The meat, blubber and baleen of whales have traditionally been used by indigenous peoples of the Arctic. Whales have been depicted in various cultures worldwide, notably by the Inuit and the coastal peoples of Vietnam and Ghana, who sometimes hold whale funerals. Whales occasionally feature in literature and film. A famous example is the great white whale in Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick. Small whales, such as belugas, are sometimes kept in captivity and trained to perform tricks, but breeding success has been poor and the animals often die within a few months of capture. Whale watching has become a form of tourism around the world.

Etymology and definitions

The word "whale" comes from the Old English hwæl, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz, from Proto Indo European *(s)kwal-o-, meaning "large sea fish".[4][5] The Proto-Germanic *hwalaz is also the source of Old Saxon hwal, Old Norse hvalr, hvalfiskr, Swedish val, Middle Dutch wal, walvisc, Dutch walvis, Old High German wal, and German Wal.[4] The obsolete "whalefish" has a similar derivation, indicating a time when whales were thought to be fish.[citation needed] Other archaic English forms include wal, wale, whal, whalle, whaille, wheal, etc.[6]

The term "whale" is sometimes used interchangeably with dolphins and porpoises, acting as a synonym for Cetacea. Six species of dolphins have the word "whale" in their name, collectively known as blackfish: the orca, or killer whale, the melon-headed whale, the pygmy killer whale, the false killer whale, and the two species of pilot whales, all of which are classified under the family Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins).[7] Each species has a different reason for it, for example, the killer whale was named "Ballena asesina" 'killer whale' by Spanish sailors.[8]

The term "Great Whales" covers those currently regulated by the International Whaling Commission:[9] the Odontoceti family Physeteridae (sperm whales); and the Mysticeti families Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales), Eschrichtiidae (grey whales), and some of the Balaenopteridae (Minke, Bryde's, Sei, Blue and Fin; not Eden's and Omura's whales).[10]

Taxonomy and evolution

See also: List of whale species and List of extinct cetaceans

Phylogeny

The whales are part of the largely terrestrial mammalian clade Laurasiatheria. Whales do not form a clade or order; the infraorder Cetacea includes dolphins and porpoises, which are not considered whales in the informal sense.[citation needed] The phylogenetic tree shows the relationships of whales and other mammals, with whale groups[citation needed] marked in green.

Cetaceans are divided into two parvorders. The larger parvorder, Mysticeti (baleen whales), is characterized by the presence of baleen, a sieve-like structure in the upper jaw made of keratin, which it uses to filter plankton, among others, from the water. Odontocetes (toothed whales) are characterized by bearing sharp teeth for hunting, as opposed to their counterparts' baleen.[11]

Cetaceans and artiodactyls now are classified under the order Cetartiodactyla, often still referred to as Artiodactyla, which includes both whales and hippopotamuses. The hippopotamus and pygmy hippopotamus are the whale's closest terrestrial living relatives.[12]

Mysticetes

See also: Mysticeti

Mysticetes are also known as baleen whales. They have a pair of blowholes side by side and lack teeth; instead they have baleen plates which form a sieve-like structure in the upper jaw made of keratin, which they use to filter plankton from the water. Some whales, such as the humpback, reside in the polar regions where they feed on a reliable source of schooling fish and krill.[13] These animals rely on their well-developed flippers and tail fin to propel themselves through the water; they swim by moving their fore-flippers and tail fin up and down. Whale ribs loosely articulate with their thoracic vertebrae at the proximal end, but do not form a rigid rib cage. This adaptation allows the chest to compress during deep dives as the pressure increases.[14] Mysticetes consist of four families: rorquals (balaenopterids), cetotheriids, right whales (balaenids), and grey whales (eschrichtiids).

The main difference between each family of mysticete is in their feeding adaptations and subsequent behaviour. Balaenopterids are the rorquals. These animals, along with the cetotheriids, rely on their throat pleats to gulp large amounts of water while feeding. The throat pleats extend from the mouth to the navel and allow the mouth to expand to a large volume for more efficient capture of the small animals they feed on. Balaenopterids consist of two genera and eight species.[15] Balaenids are the right whales. These animals have very large heads, which can make up as much as 40% of their body mass, and much of the head is the mouth. This allows them to take in large amounts of water into their mouths, letting them feed more effectively.[16] Eschrichtiids have one living member: the grey whale. They are bottom feeders, mainly eating crustaceans and benthic invertebrates. They feed by turning on their sides and taking in water mixed with sediment, which is then expelled through the baleen, leaving their prey trapped inside. This is an efficient method of hunting, in which the whale has no major competitors.[17]

Odontocetes

See also: Odontoceti

Odontocetes are known as toothed whales; they have teeth and only one blowhole. They rely on their well-developed sonar to find their way in the water. Toothed whales send out ultrasonic clicks using the melon. Sound waves travel through the water. Upon striking an object in the water, the sound waves bounce back at the whale. These vibrations are received through fatty tissues in the jaw, which is then rerouted into the ear-bone and into the brain where the vibrations are interpreted.[18] All toothed whales are opportunistic, meaning they will eat anything they can fit in their throat because they are unable to chew. These animals rely on their well-developed flippers and tail fin to propel themselves through the water; they swim by moving their fore-flippers and tail fin up and down. Whale ribs loosely articulate with their thoracic vertebrae at the proximal end, but they do not form a rigid rib cage. This adaptation allows the chest to compress during deep dives as opposed to resisting the force of water pressure.[14] Excluding dolphins and porpoises, odontocetes consist of four families: belugas and narwhals (monodontids), sperm whales (physeterids), dwarf and pygmy sperm whales (kogiids), and beaked whales (ziphiids).[7]

The differences between families of odontocetes include size, feeding adaptations and distribution. Monodontids consist of two species: the beluga and the narwhal. They both reside in the frigid arctic and both have large amounts of blubber. Belugas, being white, hunt in large pods near the surface and around pack ice, their coloration acting as camouflage. Narwhals, being black, hunt in large pods in the aphotic zone, but their underbelly still remains white to remain camouflaged when something is looking directly up or down at them. They have no dorsal fin to prevent collision with pack ice.[19] Physeterids and Kogiids consist of sperm whales. Sperm whales consist the largest and smallest odontocetes, and spend a large portion of their life hunting squid. P. macrocephalus spends most of its life in search of squid in the depths; these animals do not require any degree of light at all, in fact, blind sperm whales have been caught in perfect health. The behaviour of Kogiids remains largely unknown, but, due to their small lungs, they are thought to hunt in the photic zone.[20] Ziphiids consist of 22 species of beaked whale. These vary from size, to coloration, to distribution, but they all share a similar hunting style. They use a suction technique, aided by a pair of grooves on the underside of their head, not unlike the throat pleats on the rorquals, to feed.[21]

As a formal clade (a group which does not exclude any descendant taxon), odontocetes also contains the porpoises (Phocoenidae) and four or five living families of dolphins: oceanic dolphins (Delphinidae), South Asian river dolphins (Platanistidae), the possibly extinct Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotidae), South American river dolphins (Iniidae), and La Plata dolphin (Pontoporiidae).

Evolution

Main article: Evolution of cetaceans
 
Basilosaurus skeleton

Whales are descendants of land-dwelling mammals of the artiodactyl order (even-toed ungulates). They are related to the Indohyus, an extinct chevrotain-like ungulate, from which they split approximately 48 million years ago.[22][23] Primitive cetaceans, or archaeocetes, first took to the sea approximately 49 million years ago and became fully aquatic 5–10 million years later. What defines an archaeocete is the presence of anatomical features exclusive to cetaceans, alongside other primitive features not found in modern cetaceans, such as visible legs or asymmetrical teeth.[24][25][26][12] Their features became adapted for living in the marine environment. Major anatomical changes included their hearing set-up that channeled vibrations from the jaw to the earbone (Ambulocetus 49 mya), a streamlined body and the growth of flukes on the tail (Protocetus 43 mya), the migration of the nostrils toward the top of the cranium (blowholes), and the modification of the forelimbs into flippers (Basilosaurus 35 mya), and the shrinking and eventual disappearance of the hind limbs (the first odontocetes and mysticetes 34 mya).[27][28][29]

Whale morphology shows a number of examples of convergent evolution, the most obvious being the streamlined fish-like body shape.[30] Other examples include the use of echolocation for hunting in low light conditions — which is the same hearing adaptation used by bats — and, in the rorqual whales, jaw adaptations, similar to those found in pelicans, that enable engulfment feeding.[31]

Today, the closest living relatives of cetaceans are the hippopotamuses; these share a semi-aquatic ancestor that branched off from other artiodactyls some 60 mya.[12] Around 40 mya, a common ancestor between the two branched off into cetacea and anthracotheres; nearly all anthracotheres became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene 2.5 mya, eventually leaving only one surviving lineage – the hippopotamus.[32]

Whales split into two separate parvorders around 34 mya – the baleen whales (Mysticetes) and the toothed whales (Odontocetes).[33][34][35]

Biology

Anatomy

 
Features of a blue whale
 
Features of a sperm whale skeleton

Whales have torpedo-shaped bodies with non-flexible necks, limbs modified into flippers, non-existent external ear flaps, a large tail fin, and flat heads (with the exception of monodontids and ziphiids). Whale skulls have small eye orbits, long snouts (with the exception of monodontids and ziphiids) and eyes placed on the sides of its head. Whales range in size from the 2.6-metre (8.5 ft) and 135-kilogram (298 lb) dwarf sperm whale to the 34-metre (112 ft) and 190-metric-ton (210-short-ton) blue whale. Overall, they tend to dwarf other cetartiodactyls; the blue whale is the largest creature on Earth. Several species have female-biased sexual dimorphism, with the females being larger than the males. One exception is with the sperm whale, which has males larger than the females.[36][37]

Odontocetes, such as the sperm whale, possess teeth with cementum cells overlying dentine cells. Unlike human teeth, which are composed mostly of enamel on the portion of the tooth outside of the gum, whale teeth have cementum outside the gum. Only in larger whales, where the cementum is worn away on the tip of the tooth, does enamel show. Mysticetes have large whalebone, as opposed to teeth, made of keratin. Mysticetes have two blowholes, whereas Odontocetes contain only one.[38]

Breathing involves expelling stale air from the blowhole, forming an upward, steamy spout, followed by inhaling fresh air into the lungs; a humpback whale's lungs can hold about 5,000 litres (1,300 US gal) of air. Spout shapes differ among species, which facilitates identification.[39][40]

All whales have a thick layer of blubber. In species that live near the poles, the blubber can be as thick as 11 inches (28 cm). This blubber can help with buoyancy (which is helpful for a 100-ton whale), protection to some extent as predators would have a hard time getting through a thick layer of fat, and energy for fasting when migrating to the equator; the primary usage for blubber is insulation from the harsh climate. It can constitute as much as 50% of a whale's body weight. Calves are born with only a thin layer of blubber, but some species compensate for this with thick lanugos.[41][42]

Whales have a two- to three-chambered stomach that is similar in structure to those of terrestrial carnivores. Mysticetes contain a proventriculus as an extension of the oesophagus; this contains stones that grind up food. They also have fundic and pyloric chambers.[43]

Locomotion

 
Skeleton of a bowhead whale; notice the vestigial pelvis. Richard Lydekker, 1894

Whales have two flippers on the front, and a tail fin. These flippers contain four digits. Although whales do not possess fully developed hind limbs, some, such as the sperm whale and bowhead whale, possess discrete rudimentary appendages, which may contain feet and digits. Whales are fast swimmers in comparison to seals, which typically cruise at 5–15 kn, or 9–28 kilometres per hour (5.6–17.4 mph); the fin whale, in comparison, can travel at speeds up to 47 kilometres per hour (29 mph) and the sperm whale can reach speeds of 35 kilometres per hour (22 mph). The fusing of the neck vertebrae, while increasing stability when swimming at high speeds, decreases flexibility; whales are unable to turn their heads. When swimming, whales rely on their tail fin to propel them through the water. Flipper movement is continuous. Whales swim by moving their tail fin and lower body up and down, propelling themselves through vertical movement, while their flippers are mainly used for steering. Some species log out of the water, which may allow them to travel faster. Their skeletal anatomy allows them to be fast swimmers. Most species have a dorsal fin.[29][44]

Whales are adapted for diving to great depths. In addition to their streamlined bodies, they can slow their heart rate to conserve oxygen; blood is rerouted from tissue tolerant of water pressure to the heart and brain among other organs; haemoglobin and myoglobin store oxygen in body tissue; and they have twice the concentration of myoglobin than haemoglobin. Before going on long dives, many whales exhibit a behaviour known as sounding; they stay close to the surface for a series of short, shallow dives while building their oxygen reserves, and then make a sounding dive.[14][45]

Senses

 
Biosonar by cetaceans
 
Sperm whale skeleton. Richard Lydekker, 1894.

The whale ear has specific adaptations to the marine environment. In humans, the middle ear works as an impedance equalizer between the outside air's low impedance and the cochlear fluid's high impedance. In whales, and other marine mammals, there is no great difference between the outer and inner environments. Instead of sound passing through the outer ear to the middle ear, whales receive sound through the throat, from which it passes through a low-impedance fat-filled cavity to the inner ear.[46] The whale ear is acoustically isolated from the skull by air-filled sinus pockets, which allow for greater directional hearing underwater.[47] Odontocetes send out high frequency clicks from an organ known as a melon. This melon consists of fat, and the skull of any such creature containing a melon will have a large depression. The melon size varies between species, the bigger the more dependent they are of it. A beaked whale for example has a small bulge sitting on top of its skull, whereas a sperm whale's head is filled up mainly with the melon.[48][49][50][51]

The whale eye is relatively small for its size, yet they do retain a good degree of eyesight. As well as this, the eyes of a whale are placed on the sides of its head, so their vision consists of two fields, rather than a binocular view like humans have. When belugas surface, their lens and cornea correct the nearsightedness that results from the refraction of light; they contain both rod and cone cells, meaning they can see in both dim and bright light, but they have far more rod cells than they do cone cells. Whales do, however, lack short wavelength sensitive visual pigments in their cone cells indicating a more limited capacity for colour vision than most mammals.[52] Most whales have slightly flattened eyeballs, enlarged pupils (which shrink as they surface to prevent damage), slightly flattened corneas and a tapetum lucidum; these adaptations allow for large amounts of light to pass through the eye and, therefore, a very clear image of the surrounding area. They also have glands on the eyelids and outer corneal layer that act as protection for the cornea.[53][49]

The olfactory lobes are absent in toothed whales, suggesting that they have no sense of smell. Some whales, such as the bowhead whale, possess a vomeronasal organ, which does mean that they can "sniff out" krill.[54]

Whales are not thought to have a good sense of taste, as their taste buds are atrophied or missing altogether. However, some toothed whales have preferences between different kinds of fish, indicating some sort of attachment to taste. The presence of the Jacobson's organ indicates that whales can smell food once inside their mouth, which might be similar to the sensation of taste.[55]

Communication

Main article: Whale vocalization
 
Humpback whale "song"
Recording of Humpback Whales singing and Clicking.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Whale vocalization is likely to serve several purposes. Some species, such as the humpback whale, communicate using melodic sounds, known as whale song. These sounds may be extremely loud, depending on the species. Humpback whales only have been heard making clicks, while toothed whales use sonar that may generate up to 20,000 watts of sound (+73 dBm or +43 dBw)[56] and be heard for many miles.

Captive whales have occasionally been known to mimic human speech. Scientists have suggested this indicates a strong desire on behalf of the whales to communicate with humans, as whales have a very different vocal mechanism, so imitating human speech likely takes considerable effort.[57]

Whales emit two distinct kinds of acoustic signals, which are called whistles and clicks:[58] Clicks are quick broadband burst pulses, used for sonar, although some lower-frequency broadband vocalizations may serve a non-echolocative purpose such as communication; for example, the pulsed calls of belugas. Pulses in a click train are emitted at intervals of ≈35–50 milliseconds, and in general these inter-click intervals are slightly greater than the round-trip time of sound to the target. Whistles are narrow-band frequency modulated (FM) signals, used for communicative purposes, such as contact calls.

Intelligence

Main article: Cetacean intelligence
See also: Cetacean surfacing behaviour

Whales are known to teach, learn, cooperate, scheme, and grieve.[59] The neocortex of many species of whale is home to elongated spindle neurons that, prior to 2007, were known only in hominids.[60] In humans, these cells are involved in social conduct, emotions, judgement, and theory of mind. Whale spindle neurons are found in areas of the brain that are homologous to where they are found in humans, suggesting that they perform a similar function.[61]

 
Bubble net feeding

Brain size was previously considered a major indicator of the intelligence of an animal. Since most of the brain is used for maintaining bodily functions, greater ratios of brain to body mass may increase the amount of brain mass available for more complex cognitive tasks. Allometric analysis indicates that mammalian brain size scales at approximately the ⅔ or ¾ exponent of the body mass. Comparison of a particular animal's brain size with the expected brain size based on such allometric analysis provides an encephalisation quotient that can be used as another indication of animal intelligence. Sperm whales have the largest brain mass of any animal on Earth, averaging 8,000 cubic centimetres (490 in3) and 7.8 kilograms (17 lb) in mature males, in comparison to the average human brain which averages 1,450 cubic centimetres (88 in3) in mature males.[62] The brain to body mass ratio in some odontocetes, such as belugas and narwhals, is second only to humans.[63]

Small whales are known to engage in complex play behaviour, which includes such things as producing stable underwater toroidal air-core vortex rings or "bubble rings". There are two main methods of bubble ring production: rapid puffing of a burst of air into the water and allowing it to rise to the surface, forming a ring, or swimming repeatedly in a circle and then stopping to inject air into the helical vortex currents thus formed. They also appear to enjoy biting the vortex-rings, so that they burst into many separate bubbles and then rise quickly to the surface.[64] Some believe this is a means of communication.[65] Whales are also known to produce bubble-nets for the purpose of foraging.[66]

Larger whales are also thought, to some degree, to engage in play. The southern right whale, for example, elevates their tail fluke above the water, remaining in the same position for a considerable amount of time. This is known as "sailing". It appears to be a form of play and is most commonly seen off the coast of Argentina and South Africa. Humpback whales, among others, are also known to display this behaviour.[67]

Life cycle

See also: Right whale § Courtship and reproduction

Whales are fully aquatic creatures, which means that birth and courtship behaviours are very different from terrestrial and semi-aquatic creatures. Since they are unable to go onto land to calve, they deliver the baby with the fetus positioned for tail-first delivery. This prevents the baby from drowning either upon or during delivery. To feed the new-born, whales, being aquatic, must squirt the milk into the mouth of the calf. Being mammals, they have mammary glands used for nursing calves; they are weaned off at about 11 months of age. This milk contains high amounts of fat which is meant to hasten the development of blubber; it contains so much fat that it has the consistency of toothpaste.[68] Females deliver a single calf with gestation lasting about a year, dependency until one to two years, and maturity around seven to ten years, all varying between the species.[13] This mode of reproduction produces few offspring, but increases the survival probability of each one. Females, referred to as "cows", carry the responsibility of childcare as males, referred to as "bulls", play no part in raising calves.

Most mysticetes reside at the poles. So, to prevent the unborn calf from dying of frostbite, they migrate to calving/mating grounds. They will then stay there for a matter of months until the calf has developed enough blubber to survive the bitter temperatures of the poles. Until then, the calves will feed on the mother's fatty milk.[69] With the exception of the humpback whale, it is largely unknown when whales migrate. Most will travel from the Arctic or Antarctic into the tropics to mate, calve, and raise during the winter and spring; they will migrate back to the poles in the warmer summer months so the calf can continue growing while the mother can continue eating, as they fast in the breeding grounds. One exception to this is the southern right whale, which migrates to Patagonia and western New Zealand to calve; both are well out of the tropic zone.[70]

Sleep

Further information: Sleep in animals

Unlike most animals, whales are conscious breathers. All mammals sleep, but whales cannot afford to become unconscious for long because they may drown. While knowledge of sleep in wild cetaceans is limited, toothed cetaceans in captivity have been recorded to sleep with one side of their brain at a time, so that they may swim, breathe consciously, and avoid both predators and social contact during their period of rest.[71]

A 2008 study found that sperm whales sleep in vertical postures just under the surface in passive shallow 'drift-dives', generally during the day, during which whales do not respond to passing vessels unless they are in contact, leading to the suggestion that whales possibly sleep during such dives.[71]

Ecology

Foraging and predation

See also: Beluga whale § Predation
 
Polar bear with the remains of a beluga

All whales are carnivorous and predatory. Odontocetes, as a whole, mostly feed on fish and cephalopods, and then followed by crustaceans and bivalves. All species are generalist and opportunistic feeders. Mysticetes, as a whole, mostly feed on krill and plankton, followed by crustaceans and other invertebrates. A few are specialists. Examples include the blue whale, which eats almost exclusively krill, the minke whale, which eats mainly schooling fish, the sperm whale, which specialize on squid, and the grey whale which feed on bottom-dwelling invertebrates.[15][72][73] The elaborate baleen "teeth" of filter-feeding species, mysticetes, allow them to remove water before they swallow their planktonic food by using the teeth as a sieve.[68] Usually whales hunt solitarily, but they do sometimes hunt cooperatively in small groups. The former behaviour is typical when hunting non-schooling fish, slow-moving or immobile invertebrates or endothermic prey. When large amounts of prey are available, whales such as certain mysticetes hunt cooperatively in small groups.[74] Some cetaceans may forage with other kinds of animals, such as other species of whales or certain species of pinnipeds.[75][76]

Large whales, such as mysticetes, are not usually subject to predation, but smaller whales, such as monodontids or ziphiids, are. These species are preyed on by the otv or orca. To subdue and kill whales, orcas continuously ram them with their heads; this can sometimes kill bowhead whales, or severely injure them. Other times they corral the narwhals or belugas before striking. They are typically hunted by groups of 10 or fewer orcas, but they are seldom attacked by an individual. Calves are more commonly taken by orcas, but adults can be targeted as well.[77]

These small whales are also targeted by terrestrial and pagophilic predators. The polar bear is well adapted for hunting Arctic whales and calves. Bears are known to use sit-and-wait tactics as well as active stalking and pursuit of prey on ice or water. Whales lessen the chance of predation by gathering in groups. This however means less room around the breathing hole as the ice slowly closes the gap. When out at sea, whales dive out of the reach of surface-hunting orcas. Polar bear attacks on belugas and narwhals are usually successful in winter, but rarely inflict any damage in summer.[78]

Whale pump

 
"Whale pump" – the role played by whales in recycling ocean nutrients.[79]

A 2010 study considered whales to be a positive influence to the productivity of ocean fisheries, in what has been termed a "whale pump." Whales carry nutrients such as nitrogen from the depths back to the surface. This functions as an upward biological pump, reversing an earlier presumption that whales accelerate the loss of nutrients to the bottom. This nitrogen input in the Gulf of Maine is "more than the input of all rivers combined" emptying into the gulf, some 23,000 metric tons (25,000 short tons) each year.[80][79] Whales defecate at the ocean's surface; their excrement is important for fisheries because it is rich in iron and nitrogen. The whale faeces are liquid and instead of sinking, they stay at the surface where phytoplankton feed off it.[79][81][82]

Whale fall

Main article: Whale fall

Upon death, whale carcasses fall to the deep ocean and provide a substantial habitat for marine life. Evidence of whale falls in present-day and fossil records shows that deep sea whale falls support a rich assemblage of creatures, with a global diversity of 407 species, comparable to other neritic biodiversity hotspots, such as cold seeps and hydrothermal vents.[83]

Deterioration of whale carcasses happens though a series of three stages. Initially, moving organisms such as sharks and hagfish, scavenge the soft tissues at a rapid rate over a period of months, and as long as two years. This is followed by the colonization of bones and surrounding sediments (which contain organic matter) by enrichment opportunists, such as crustaceans and polychaetes, throughout a period of years. Finally, sulfophilic bacteria reduce the bones releasing hydrogen sulfide enabling the growth of chemoautotrophic organisms, which in turn, support other organisms such as mussels, clams, limpets, and sea snails. This stage may last for decades and supports a rich assemblage of species, averaging 185 species per site.[83][84]

Relationship with humans

Whaling

Main articles: Whaling and History of whaling
 
Whale Fishing: Woodcut by Thevet, Paris, 1574
 
Dutch whalers near Spitsbergen, their most successful port. Abraham Storck, 1690

Whaling by humans has existed since the Stone Age. Ancient whalers used harpoons to spear the bigger animals from boats out at sea.[85] People from Norway and Japan started hunting whales around 2000 B.C.[86] Whales are typically hunted for their meat and blubber by aboriginal groups; they used baleen for baskets or roofing, and made tools and masks out of bones.[86] The Inuit hunted whales in the Arctic Ocean.[86] The Basques started whaling as early as the 11th century, sailing as far as Newfoundland in the 16th century in search of right whales.[87][88] 18th- and 19th-century whalers hunted whales mainly for their oil, which was used as lamp fuel and a lubricant, baleen or whalebone, which was used for items such as corsets and skirt hoops,[86] and ambergris, which was used as a fixative for perfumes. The most successful whaling nations at this time were the Netherlands, Japan, and the United States.[89]

Commercial whaling was historically important as an industry well throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Whaling was at that time a sizeable European industry with ships from Britain, France, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany, sometimes collaborating to hunt whales in the Arctic, sometimes in competition leading even to war.[90] By the early 1790s, whalers, namely the Americans and Australians, focused efforts in the South Pacific where they mainly hunted sperm whales and right whales, with catches of up to 39,000 right whales by Americans alone.[87][91] By 1853, US profits reached US$11,000,000 (GB£6.5m), equivalent to US$348,000,000 (GB£230m) today, the most profitable year for the American whaling industry.[92] Commonly exploited species included North Atlantic right whales, sperm whales, which were mainly hunted by Americans, bowhead whales, which were mainly hunted by the Dutch, common minke whales, blue whales, and grey whales. The scale of whale harvesting decreased substantially after 1982 when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) placed a moratorium which set a catch limit for each country, excluding aboriginal groups until 2004.[93]

Current whaling nations are Norway, Iceland, and Japan, despite their joining to the IWC, as well as the aboriginal communities of Siberia, Alaska, and northern Canada.[94] Subsistence hunters typically use whale products for themselves and depend on them for survival. National and international authorities have given special treatment to aboriginal hunters since their methods of hunting are seen as less destructive and wasteful. This distinction is being questioned as these aboriginal groups are using more modern weaponry and mechanized transport to hunt with, and are selling whale products in the marketplace. Some anthropologists argue that the term "subsistence" should also apply to these cash-based exchanges as long as they take place within local production and consumption.[95][96][97] In 1946, the IWC placed a moratorium, limiting the annual whale catch. Since then, yearly profits for these "subsistence" hunters have been close to US$31 million (GB£20m) per year.[93]

Other threats

Further information: Cetacean bycatch, Cetacean stranding, and Marine mammals and sonar

Whales can also be threatened by humans more indirectly. They are unintentionally caught in fishing nets by commercial fisheries as bycatch and accidentally swallow fishing hooks. Gillnetting and Seine netting is a significant cause of mortality in whales and other marine mammals.[98] Species commonly entangled include beaked whales. Whales are also affected by marine pollution. High levels of organic chemicals accumulate in these animals since they are high in the food chain. They have large reserves of blubber, more so for toothed whales as they are higher up the food chain than baleen whales. Lactating mothers can pass the toxins on to their young. These pollutants can cause gastrointestinal cancers and greater vulnerability to infectious diseases.[99] They can also be poisoned by swallowing litter, such as plastic bags.[100] Advanced military sonar harms whales. Sonar interferes with the basic biological functions of whales—such as feeding and mating—by impacting their ability to echolocate. Whales swim in response to sonar and sometimes experience decompression sickness due to rapid changes in depth. Mass strandings have been triggered by sonar activity, resulting in injury or death.[101][102][103][104] Whales are sometimes killed or injured during collisions with ships or boats. This is considered to be a significant threat to vulnerable whale populations such as the North Atlantic right whale, whose total population numbers less than 500.[105]

Conservation

Main article: Whale conservation
 
World population graph of blue whales

Whaling decreased substantially after 1946 when, in response to the steep decline in whale populations, the International Whaling Commission placed a moratorium which set a catch limit for each country; this excluded aboriginal groups up until 2004.[89][96][106][107] As of 2015, aboriginal communities are allowed to take 280 bowhead whales off Alaska and two from the western coast of Greenland, 620 grey whales off Washington state, three common minke whales off the eastern coast of Greenland and 178 on their western coast, 10 fin whales from the west coast of Greenland, nine humpback whales from the west coast of Greenland and 20 off St. Vincent and the Grenadines each year.[107] Several species that were commercially exploited have rebounded in numbers; for example, grey whales may be as numerous as they were prior to harvesting, but the North Atlantic population is functionally extinct. Conversely, the North Atlantic right whale was extirpated from much of its former range, which stretched across the North Atlantic, and only remains in small fragments along the coast of Canada, Greenland, and is considered functionally extinct along the European coastline.[108]

 
World map showing International Whaling Commission (IWC) members in blue

The IWC has designated two whale sanctuaries: the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, and the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Southern Ocean whale sanctuary spans 30,560,860 square kilometres (11,799,610 sq mi) and envelopes Antarctica.[109] The Indian Ocean whale sanctuary takes up all of the Indian Ocean south of 55°S.[110] The IWC is a voluntary organization, with no treaty. Any nation may leave as they wish; the IWC cannot enforce any law it makes.

There are at least 86 cetacean species that are recognized by the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee.[111] As of 2020, six are considered at risk, as they are ranked "Critically Endangered" (North Atlantic right whale[112]), "Endangered" (blue whale,[113] North Pacific right whale,[114] and sei whale[115]), and "Vulnerable" (fin whale[116] and sperm whale[117]). Twenty-one species have a "Data Deficient" ranking.[118] Species that live in polar habitats are vulnerable to the effects of recent and ongoing climate change, particularly the time when pack ice forms and melts.[119]

Whale watching

Main article: Whale watching

An estimated 13 million people went whale watching globally in 2008, in all oceans except the Arctic.[120] Rules and codes of conduct have been created to minimize harassment of the whales.[121] Iceland, Japan and Norway have both whaling and whale watching industries. Whale watching lobbyists are concerned that the most inquisitive whales, which approach boats closely and provide much of the entertainment on whale-watching trips, will be the first to be taken if whaling is resumed in the same areas.[122] Whale watching generated US$2.1 billion (GB£1.4 billion) per annum in tourism revenue worldwide, employing around 13,000 workers.[120] In contrast, the whaling industry, with the moratorium in place, generates US$31 million (GB£20 million) per year.[93] The size and rapid growth of the industry has led to complex and continuing debates with the whaling industry about the best use of whales as a natural resource.

In myth, literature and art

Further information: Biomusic § Whale song in music
 
Engraving by Gilliam van der Gouwen depicting a stranded sperm whale being butchered on the Dutch coast, 1598

As marine creatures that reside in either the depths or the poles, humans knew very little about whales over the course of human history; many feared or revered them. The Vikings and various arctic tribes revered the whale as they were important pieces of their lives. In Inuit creation myths, when 'Big Raven', a deity in human form, found a stranded whale, he was told by the Great Spirit where to find special mushrooms that would give him the strength to drag the whale back to the sea and thus, return order to the world. In an Icelandic legend, a man threw a stone at a fin whale and hit the blowhole, causing the whale to burst. The man was told not to go to sea for twenty years, but during the nineteenth year he went fishing and a whale came and killed him.

Whales played a major part in shaping the art forms of many coastal civilizations, such as the Norse, with some dating to the Stone Age. Petroglyphs off a cliff face in Bangudae, South Korea show 300 depictions of various animals, a third of which are whales. Some show particular detail in which there are throat pleats, typical of rorquals. These petroglyphs show these people, of around 7,000 to 3,500 B.C.E. in South Korea, had a very high dependency on whales.[123]

The Pacific Islanders and Australian Aborigines viewed whales as bringers of good and joy. One exception is French Polynesia, where, in many parts, cetaceans are met with great brutality.[124]

In coastal regions of China, Korea and Vietnam, the worship of whale gods, who were associated with Dragon Kings after the arrival of Buddhism, was present along with related legends.[125]

In Vietnam and Ghana, among other places, whales hold a sense of divinity. They are so respected in their cultures that they occasionally hold funerals for beached whales, a throwback to Vietnam's ancient sea-based Austro-Asiatic culture.[126][127][128][129] The god of the seas, according to Chinese folklore, was a large whale with human limbs.

 
Illustration by Gustave Doré of Baron Munchausen's tale of being swallowed by a whale. While the Biblical Book of Jonah refers to the Prophet Jonah being swallowed by "a big fish", in later derivations that "fish" was identified as a whale.

Whales have also played a role in sacred texts. The story of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish is told both in the Qur'an[130] and in the biblical Book of Jonah (and is mentioned by Jesus in the New Testament: Matthew 12:40.[131]). This episode was frequently depicted in medieval art (for example, on a 12th-century column capital at the abbey church of Mozac, France). The Bible also mentions whales in Genesis 1:21, Job 7:12, and Ezekiel 32:2. The "leviathan" described at length in Job 41:1-34 is generally understood to refer to a whale. The "sea monsters" in Lamentations 4:3 have been taken by some to refer to marine mammals, in particular whales, although most modern versions use the word "jackals" instead.[132]

 
Whalers off Twofold Bay, New South Wales. Watercolour by Oswald Brierly, 1867

In 1585, Alessandro Farnese, 1585, and Francois, Duke of Anjou, 1582, were greeted on his ceremonial entry into the port city of Antwerp by floats including "Neptune and the Whale", indicating at least the city's dependence on the sea for its wealth.[133]

In 1896, an article in The Pall Mall Gazette popularised a practice of alternative medicine that probably began in the whaling town of Eden, Australia two or three years earlier.[134] It was believed that climbing inside a whale carcass and remaining there for a few hours would relieve symptoms of rheumatism.[135]

Whales continue to be prevalent in modern literature. For example, Herman Melville's Moby Dick features a "great white whale" as the main antagonist for Ahab. The whale is an albino sperm whale, considered by Melville to be the largest type of whale, and is partly based on the historically attested bull whale Mocha Dick. Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories includes the story of "How the Whale got in his Throat". A whale features in the award-winning children's book The Snail and the Whale (2003) by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Niki Caro's film the Whale Rider has a Māori girl ride a whale in her journey to be a suitable heir to the chieftain-ship.[136] Walt Disney's film Pinocchio features a showdown with a giant whale named Monstro at the end of the film.

A recording of Song with a Humpback Whale by a team of marine scientists became popular in 1970. Alan Hovhaness's orchestral composition And God Created Great Whales (1970) includes the recorded sounds of humpback and bowhead whales.[137] Recorded whale songs also appear in a number of other musical works, including Léo Ferré's song "Il n'y a plus rien" and Judy Collins's "Farewell to Tarwathie" (on the 1970 album Whales and Nightingales).

In captivity

Main article: Cetaceans in captivity
Further information: Beluga whale § Captivity
 
Beluga whales and trainers in an aquarium

Belugas were the first whales to be kept in captivity. Other species were too rare, too shy, or too big. The first beluga was shown at Barnum's Museum in New York City in 1861.[138] For most of the 20th century, Canada was the predominant source of wild belugas.[139] They were taken from the St. Lawrence River estuary until the late 1960s, after which they were predominantly taken from the Churchill River estuary until capture was banned in 1992.[139] Russia has become the largest provider since it had been banned in Canada.[139] Belugas are caught in the Amur River delta and their eastern coast, and then are either transported domestically to aquariums or dolphinariums in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sochi, or exported to other countries, such as Canada.[139] Most captive belugas are caught in the wild, since captive-breeding programs are not very successful.[140]

As of 2006, 30 belugas were in Canada and 28 in the United States, and 42 deaths in captivity had been reported up to that time.[139] A single specimen can reportedly fetch up to US$100,000 (GB£64,160) on the market. The beluga's popularity is due to its unique colour and its facial expressions. The latter is possible because while most cetacean "smiles" are fixed, the extra movement afforded by the beluga's unfused cervical vertebrae allows a greater range of apparent expression.[141]

Between 1960 and 1992, the Navy carried out a program that included the study of marine mammals' abilities with sonar, with the objective of improving the detection of underwater objects. A large number of belugas were used from 1975 on, the first being dolphins.[141][142] The program also included training them to carry equipment and material to divers working underwater by holding cameras in their mouths to locate lost objects, survey ships and submarines, and underwater monitoring.[142] A similar program was used by the Russian Navy during the Cold War, in which belugas were also trained for antimining operations in the Arctic.[143]

Aquariums have tried housing other species of whales in captivity. The success of belugas turned attention to maintaining their relative, the narwhal, in captivity. However, in repeated attempts in the 1960s and 1970s, all narwhals kept in captivity died within months. A pair of pygmy right whales were retained in an enclosed area (with nets); they were eventually released in South Africa. There was one attempt to keep a stranded Sowerby's beaked whale calf in captivity; the calf rammed into the tank wall, breaking its rostrum, which resulted in death. It was thought that Sowerby's beaked whale evolved to swim fast in a straight line, and a 30-metre (98 ft) tank was not big enough.[144] There have been attempts to keep baleen whales in captivity. There were three attempts to keep grey whales in captivity. Gigi was a grey whale calf that died in transport. Gigi II was another grey whale calf that was captured in the Ojo de Liebre Lagoon, and was transported to SeaWorld.[145] The 680-kilogram (1,500 lb) calf was a popular attraction, and behaved normally, despite being separated from his mother. A year later, the 8,000-kilogram (18,000 lb) whale grew too big to keep in captivity and was released; it was the first of two grey whales, the other being another grey whale calf named JJ, to successfully be kept in captivity.[145] There were three attempts to keep minke whales in captivity in Japan. They were kept in a tidal pool with a sea-gate at the Izu Mito Sea Paradise. Another, unsuccessful, attempt was made by the U.S. [146] One stranded humpback whale calf was kept in captivity for rehabilitation, but died days later.[147]

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Websites

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News

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  • Kirby, Alex (8 October 2003). "Sonar may cause Whale deaths". Retrieved 14 September 2006.
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  • "Whale funeral draws 1000 mourners in Vietnam". The Sydney Morning Herald. AFP. 14 April 2003. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  • "Live Whales from the St. Lawrence". The New York Times. 9 August 1861. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  • "Funeral for a Whale held at Apam". GhanaWeb. Ghana News Agency. 10 August 2005. Retrieved 15 April 2011.

Other

  • "Lamentations 4:3". Bible. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  • "Matthew". Bible. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  • "Milk". Modern Marvels. Season 14. 7 January 2008. The History Channel.

Further reading

 
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Whale watching.

January 31, 2023
whale, this, article, about, marine, mammal, other, uses, disambiguation, widely, distributed, diverse, group, fully, aquatic, placental, marine, mammals, informal, colloquial, grouping, they, correspond, large, members, infraorder, cetacea, cetaceans, apart, . This article is about a marine mammal For other uses see Whale disambiguation Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals As an informal and colloquial grouping they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea i e all cetaceans apart from dolphins and porpoises Dolphins and porpoises may be considered whales from a formal cladistic perspective Whales dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla which consists of even toed ungulates Their closest non cetacean living relatives are the hippopotamuses from which they and other cetaceans diverged about 54 million years ago The two parvorders of whales baleen whales Mysticeti and toothed whales Odontoceti are thought to have had their last common ancestor around 34 million years ago Mysticetes include four extant living families Balaenopteridae the rorquals Balaenidae right whales Cetotheriidae the pygmy right whale and Eschrichtiidae the grey whale Odontocetes include the Monodontidae belugas and narwhals Physeteridae the sperm whale Kogiidae the dwarf and pygmy sperm whale and Ziphiidae the beaked whales as well as the six families of dolphins and porpoises which are not considered whales in the informal sense WhaleAn informal groupwithin the infraorder CetaceaTemporal range Eocene Present 50 0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N 1 Southern right whaleScientific classificationKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass MammaliaOrder ArtiodactylaClade CetaceamorphaInfraorder CetaceaGroups includedParvorder Mysticeti baleen whales Parvorder Odontoceti partially Family Monodontidae Arctic whales Superfamily Physeteroidea sperm whales Superfamily Ziphioidea beaked whales Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxaFamily Delphinidae dolphins and porpoises Superfamily Platanistoidea Asian river dolphins Superfamily Inioidea South American river dolphins Whales are fully aquatic open ocean creatures they can feed mate give birth suckle and raise their young at sea In opposite to most animals they can drink salt water although they prefer water coming from their food 2 Whales range in size from the 2 6 metres 8 5 ft and 135 kilograms 298 lb dwarf sperm whale to the 29 9 metres 98 ft and 190 tonnes 210 short tons blue whale which is the largest known animal that has ever lived The sperm whale is the largest toothed predator on Earth Several whale species exhibit sexual dimorphism in that the females are larger than males Baleen whales have no teeth instead they have plates of baleen fringe like structures that enable them to expel the huge mouthfuls of water they take in while retaining the krill and plankton they feed on Because their heads are enormous making up as much as 40 of their total body mass and they have throat pleats that enable them to expand their mouths they are able to take huge quantities of water into their mouth at a time Baleen whales also have a well developed sense of smell Toothed whales in contrast have conical teeth adapted to catching fish or squid They also have such keen hearing whether above or below the surface of the water that some can survive even if they are blind Some species such as sperm whales are particularly well adapted for diving to great depths to catch squid and other favoured prey Whales evolved from land living mammals and must regularly surface to breathe air although they can remain under water for long periods of time Some species such as the sperm whale can stay underwater for up to 90 minutes 3 They have blowholes modified nostrils located on top of their heads through which air is taken in and expelled They are warm blooded and have a layer of fat or blubber under the skin With streamlined fusiform bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers whales can travel at speeds of up to 20 knots though they are not as flexible or agile as seals Whales produce a great variety of vocalizations notably the extended songs of the humpback whale Although whales are widespread most species prefer the colder waters of the northern and southern hemispheres and migrate to the equator to give birth Species such as humpbacks and blue whales are capable of travelling thousands of miles without feeding Males typically mate with multiple females every year but females only mate every two to three years Calves are typically born in the spring and summer females bear all the responsibility for raising them Mothers in some species fast and nurse their young for one to two years Once relentlessly hunted for their products whales are now protected by international law The North Atlantic right whales nearly became extinct in the twentieth century with a population low of 450 and the North Pacific grey whale population is ranked Critically Endangered by the IUCN Besides the threat from whalers they also face threats from bycatch and marine pollution The meat blubber and baleen of whales have traditionally been used by indigenous peoples of the Arctic Whales have been depicted in various cultures worldwide notably by the Inuit and the coastal peoples of Vietnam and Ghana who sometimes hold whale funerals Whales occasionally feature in literature and film A famous example is the great white whale in Herman Melville s novel Moby Dick Small whales such as belugas are sometimes kept in captivity and trained to perform tricks but breeding success has been poor and the animals often die within a few months of capture Whale watching has become a form of tourism around the world Contents 1 Etymology and definitions 2 Taxonomy and evolution 2 1 Phylogeny 2 2 Mysticetes 2 3 Odontocetes 2 4 Evolution 3 Biology 3 1 Anatomy 3 2 Locomotion 3 3 Senses 3 4 Communication 3 5 Intelligence 3 6 Life cycle 3 7 Sleep 4 Ecology 4 1 Foraging and predation 4 2 Whale pump 4 3 Whale fall 5 Relationship with humans 5 1 Whaling 5 2 Other threats 5 3 Conservation 5 4 Whale watching 5 5 In myth literature and art 5 6 In captivity 6 See also 7 References 8 Bibliography 8 1 Books 8 2 Articles 8 3 Websites 8 4 News 8 5 Other 9 Further readingEtymology and definitionsThe word whale comes from the Old English hwael from Proto Germanic hwalaz from Proto Indo European s kwal o meaning large sea fish 4 5 The Proto Germanic hwalaz is also the source of Old Saxon hwal Old Norse hvalr hvalfiskr Swedish val Middle Dutch wal walvisc Dutch walvis Old High German wal and German Wal 4 The obsolete whalefish has a similar derivation indicating a time when whales were thought to be fish citation needed Other archaic English forms include wal wale whal whalle whaille wheal etc 6 The term whale is sometimes used interchangeably with dolphins and porpoises acting as a synonym for Cetacea Six species of dolphins have the word whale in their name collectively known as blackfish the orca or killer whale the melon headed whale the pygmy killer whale the false killer whale and the two species of pilot whales all of which are classified under the family Delphinidae oceanic dolphins 7 Each species has a different reason for it for example the killer whale was named Ballena asesina killer whale by Spanish sailors 8 The term Great Whales covers those currently regulated by the International Whaling Commission 9 the Odontoceti family Physeteridae sperm whales and the Mysticeti families Balaenidae right and bowhead whales Eschrichtiidae grey whales and some of the Balaenopteridae Minke Bryde s Sei Blue and Fin not Eden s and Omura s whales 10 Taxonomy and evolutionSee also List of whale species and List of extinct cetaceans Phylogeny The whales are part of the largely terrestrial mammalian clade Laurasiatheria Whales do not form a clade or order the infraorder Cetacea includes dolphins and porpoises which are not considered whales in the informal sense citation needed The phylogenetic tree shows the relationships of whales and other mammals with whale groups citation needed marked in green Laurasiatheria Ferae carnivorans and allies Perissodactyla horses rhinos tapirs Artiodactyla Tylopoda camelids Artiofabula Suina Pigs Cetruminantia Ruminants cattle sheep antelopes Whippomorpha Hippopotamuses Cetacea Archaeocetes Ambulocetus Protocetus Basilosaurus Mysticeti right grey rorquals baleen whalesOdontoceti Delphinoidea dolphins porpoises beluga whales narwhals Lipotoidea river dolphins Physeteroidea sperm whales Ziphoidea beaked whales toothed whalesc 53 myac 99 myaCetaceans are divided into two parvorders The larger parvorder Mysticeti baleen whales is characterized by the presence of baleen a sieve like structure in the upper jaw made of keratin which it uses to filter plankton among others from the water Odontocetes toothed whales are characterized by bearing sharp teeth for hunting as opposed to their counterparts baleen 11 Cetaceans and artiodactyls now are classified under the order Cetartiodactyla often still referred to as Artiodactyla which includes both whales and hippopotamuses The hippopotamus and pygmy hippopotamus are the whale s closest terrestrial living relatives 12 Mysticetes See also Mysticeti Mysticetes are also known as baleen whales They have a pair of blowholes side by side and lack teeth instead they have baleen plates which form a sieve like structure in the upper jaw made of keratin which they use to filter plankton from the water Some whales such as the humpback reside in the polar regions where they feed on a reliable source of schooling fish and krill 13 These animals rely on their well developed flippers and tail fin to propel themselves through the water they swim by moving their fore flippers and tail fin up and down Whale ribs loosely articulate with their thoracic vertebrae at the proximal end but do not form a rigid rib cage This adaptation allows the chest to compress during deep dives as the pressure increases 14 Mysticetes consist of four families rorquals balaenopterids cetotheriids right whales balaenids and grey whales eschrichtiids The main difference between each family of mysticete is in their feeding adaptations and subsequent behaviour Balaenopterids are the rorquals These animals along with the cetotheriids rely on their throat pleats to gulp large amounts of water while feeding The throat pleats extend from the mouth to the navel and allow the mouth to expand to a large volume for more efficient capture of the small animals they feed on Balaenopterids consist of two genera and eight species 15 Balaenids are the right whales These animals have very large heads which can make up as much as 40 of their body mass and much of the head is the mouth This allows them to take in large amounts of water into their mouths letting them feed more effectively 16 Eschrichtiids have one living member the grey whale They are bottom feeders mainly eating crustaceans and benthic invertebrates They feed by turning on their sides and taking in water mixed with sediment which is then expelled through the baleen leaving their prey trapped inside This is an efficient method of hunting in which the whale has no major competitors 17 Odontocetes See also Odontoceti Odontocetes are known as toothed whales they have teeth and only one blowhole They rely on their well developed sonar to find their way in the water Toothed whales send out ultrasonic clicks using the melon Sound waves travel through the water Upon striking an object in the water the sound waves bounce back at the whale These vibrations are received through fatty tissues in the jaw which is then rerouted into the ear bone and into the brain where the vibrations are interpreted 18 All toothed whales are opportunistic meaning they will eat anything they can fit in their throat because they are unable to chew These animals rely on their well developed flippers and tail fin to propel themselves through the water they swim by moving their fore flippers and tail fin up and down Whale ribs loosely articulate with their thoracic vertebrae at the proximal end but they do not form a rigid rib cage This adaptation allows the chest to compress during deep dives as opposed to resisting the force of water pressure 14 Excluding dolphins and porpoises odontocetes consist of four families belugas and narwhals monodontids sperm whales physeterids dwarf and pygmy sperm whales kogiids and beaked whales ziphiids 7 The differences between families of odontocetes include size feeding adaptations and distribution Monodontids consist of two species the beluga and the narwhal They both reside in the frigid arctic and both have large amounts of blubber Belugas being white hunt in large pods near the surface and around pack ice their coloration acting as camouflage Narwhals being black hunt in large pods in the aphotic zone but their underbelly still remains white to remain camouflaged when something is looking directly up or down at them They have no dorsal fin to prevent collision with pack ice 19 Physeterids and Kogiids consist of sperm whales Sperm whales consist the largest and smallest odontocetes and spend a large portion of their life hunting squid P macrocephalus spends most of its life in search of squid in the depths these animals do not require any degree of light at all in fact blind sperm whales have been caught in perfect health The behaviour of Kogiids remains largely unknown but due to their small lungs they are thought to hunt in the photic zone 20 Ziphiids consist of 22 species of beaked whale These vary from size to coloration to distribution but they all share a similar hunting style They use a suction technique aided by a pair of grooves on the underside of their head not unlike the throat pleats on the rorquals to feed 21 As a formal clade a group which does not exclude any descendant taxon odontocetes also contains the porpoises Phocoenidae and four or five living families of dolphins oceanic dolphins Delphinidae South Asian river dolphins Platanistidae the possibly extinct Yangtze River dolphin Lipotidae South American river dolphins Iniidae and La Plata dolphin Pontoporiidae Evolution Main article Evolution of cetaceans Basilosaurus skeleton Whales are descendants of land dwelling mammals of the artiodactyl order even toed ungulates They are related to the Indohyus an extinct chevrotain like ungulate from which they split approximately 48 million years ago 22 23 Primitive cetaceans or archaeocetes first took to the sea approximately 49 million years ago and became fully aquatic 5 10 million years later What defines an archaeocete is the presence of anatomical features exclusive to cetaceans alongside other primitive features not found in modern cetaceans such as visible legs or asymmetrical teeth 24 25 26 12 Their features became adapted for living in the marine environment Major anatomical changes included their hearing set up that channeled vibrations from the jaw to the earbone Ambulocetus 49 mya a streamlined body and the growth of flukes on the tail Protocetus 43 mya the migration of the nostrils toward the top of the cranium blowholes and the modification of the forelimbs into flippers Basilosaurus 35 mya and the shrinking and eventual disappearance of the hind limbs the first odontocetes and mysticetes 34 mya 27 28 29 Whale morphology shows a number of examples of convergent evolution the most obvious being the streamlined fish like body shape 30 Other examples include the use of echolocation for hunting in low light conditions which is the same hearing adaptation used by bats and in the rorqual whales jaw adaptations similar to those found in pelicans that enable engulfment feeding 31 Today the closest living relatives of cetaceans are the hippopotamuses these share a semi aquatic ancestor that branched off from other artiodactyls some 60 mya 12 Around 40 mya a common ancestor between the two branched off into cetacea and anthracotheres nearly all anthracotheres became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene 2 5 mya eventually leaving only one surviving lineage the hippopotamus 32 Whales split into two separate parvorders around 34 mya the baleen whales Mysticetes and the toothed whales Odontocetes 33 34 35 BiologyAnatomy Features of a blue whale Features of a sperm whale skeleton Whales have torpedo shaped bodies with non flexible necks limbs modified into flippers non existent external ear flaps a large tail fin and flat heads with the exception of monodontids and ziphiids Whale skulls have small eye orbits long snouts with the exception of monodontids and ziphiids and eyes placed on the sides of its head Whales range in size from the 2 6 metre 8 5 ft and 135 kilogram 298 lb dwarf sperm whale to the 34 metre 112 ft and 190 metric ton 210 short ton blue whale Overall they tend to dwarf other cetartiodactyls the blue whale is the largest creature on Earth Several species have female biased sexual dimorphism with the females being larger than the males One exception is with the sperm whale which has males larger than the females 36 37 Odontocetes such as the sperm whale possess teeth with cementum cells overlying dentine cells Unlike human teeth which are composed mostly of enamel on the portion of the tooth outside of the gum whale teeth have cementum outside the gum Only in larger whales where the cementum is worn away on the tip of the tooth does enamel show Mysticetes have large whalebone as opposed to teeth made of keratin Mysticetes have two blowholes whereas Odontocetes contain only one 38 Breathing involves expelling stale air from the blowhole forming an upward steamy spout followed by inhaling fresh air into the lungs a humpback whale s lungs can hold about 5 000 litres 1 300 US gal of air Spout shapes differ among species which facilitates identification 39 40 All whales have a thick layer of blubber In species that live near the poles the blubber can be as thick as 11 inches 28 cm This blubber can help with buoyancy which is helpful for a 100 ton whale protection to some extent as predators would have a hard time getting through a thick layer of fat and energy for fasting when migrating to the equator the primary usage for blubber is insulation from the harsh climate It can constitute as much as 50 of a whale s body weight Calves are born with only a thin layer of blubber but some species compensate for this with thick lanugos 41 42 Whales have a two to three chambered stomach that is similar in structure to those of terrestrial carnivores Mysticetes contain a proventriculus as an extension of the oesophagus this contains stones that grind up food They also have fundic and pyloric chambers 43 Locomotion Skeleton of a bowhead whale notice the vestigial pelvis Richard Lydekker 1894 Whales have two flippers on the front and a tail fin These flippers contain four digits Although whales do not possess fully developed hind limbs some such as the sperm whale and bowhead whale possess discrete rudimentary appendages which may contain feet and digits Whales are fast swimmers in comparison to seals which typically cruise at 5 15 kn or 9 28 kilometres per hour 5 6 17 4 mph the fin whale in comparison can travel at speeds up to 47 kilometres per hour 29 mph and the sperm whale can reach speeds of 35 kilometres per hour 22 mph The fusing of the neck vertebrae while increasing stability when swimming at high speeds decreases flexibility whales are unable to turn their heads When swimming whales rely on their tail fin to propel them through the water Flipper movement is continuous Whales swim by moving their tail fin and lower body up and down propelling themselves through vertical movement while their flippers are mainly used for steering Some species log out of the water which may allow them to travel faster Their skeletal anatomy allows them to be fast swimmers Most species have a dorsal fin 29 44 Whales are adapted for diving to great depths In addition to their streamlined bodies they can slow their heart rate to conserve oxygen blood is rerouted from tissue tolerant of water pressure to the heart and brain among other organs haemoglobin and myoglobin store oxygen in body tissue and they have twice the concentration of myoglobin than haemoglobin Before going on long dives many whales exhibit a behaviour known as sounding they stay close to the surface for a series of short shallow dives while building their oxygen reserves and then make a sounding dive 14 45 Senses Biosonar by cetaceans Sperm whale skeleton Richard Lydekker 1894 The whale ear has specific adaptations to the marine environment In humans the middle ear works as an impedance equalizer between the outside air s low impedance and the cochlear fluid s high impedance In whales and other marine mammals there is no great difference between the outer and inner environments Instead of sound passing through the outer ear to the middle ear whales receive sound through the throat from which it passes through a low impedance fat filled cavity to the inner ear 46 The whale ear is acoustically isolated from the skull by air filled sinus pockets which allow for greater directional hearing underwater 47 Odontocetes send out high frequency clicks from an organ known as a melon This melon consists of fat and the skull of any such creature containing a melon will have a large depression The melon size varies between species the bigger the more dependent they are of it A beaked whale for example has a small bulge sitting on top of its skull whereas a sperm whale s head is filled up mainly with the melon 48 49 50 51 The whale eye is relatively small for its size yet they do retain a good degree of eyesight As well as this the eyes of a whale are placed on the sides of its head so their vision consists of two fields rather than a binocular view like humans have When belugas surface their lens and cornea correct the nearsightedness that results from the refraction of light they contain both rod and cone cells meaning they can see in both dim and bright light but they have far more rod cells than they do cone cells Whales do however lack short wavelength sensitive visual pigments in their cone cells indicating a more limited capacity for colour vision than most mammals 52 Most whales have slightly flattened eyeballs enlarged pupils which shrink as they surface to prevent damage slightly flattened corneas and a tapetum lucidum these adaptations allow for large amounts of light to pass through the eye and therefore a very clear image of the surrounding area They also have glands on the eyelids and outer corneal layer that act as protection for the cornea 53 49 The olfactory lobes are absent in toothed whales suggesting that they have no sense of smell Some whales such as the bowhead whale possess a vomeronasal organ which does mean that they can sniff out krill 54 Whales are not thought to have a good sense of taste as their taste buds are atrophied or missing altogether However some toothed whales have preferences between different kinds of fish indicating some sort of attachment to taste The presence of the Jacobson s organ indicates that whales can smell food once inside their mouth which might be similar to the sensation of taste 55 Communication Main article Whale vocalization Humpback whale song source source Recording of Humpback Whales singing and Clicking Problems playing this file See media help Whale vocalization is likely to serve several purposes Some species such as the humpback whale communicate using melodic sounds known as whale song These sounds may be extremely loud depending on the species Humpback whales only have been heard making clicks while toothed whales use sonar that may generate up to 20 000 watts of sound 73 dBm or 43 dBw 56 and be heard for many miles Captive whales have occasionally been known to mimic human speech Scientists have suggested this indicates a strong desire on behalf of the whales to communicate with humans as whales have a very different vocal mechanism so imitating human speech likely takes considerable effort 57 Whales emit two distinct kinds of acoustic signals which are called whistles and clicks 58 Clicks are quick broadband burst pulses used for sonar although some lower frequency broadband vocalizations may serve a non echolocative purpose such as communication for example the pulsed calls of belugas Pulses in a click train are emitted at intervals of 35 50 milliseconds and in general these inter click intervals are slightly greater than the round trip time of sound to the target Whistles are narrow band frequency modulated FM signals used for communicative purposes such as contact calls Intelligence Main article Cetacean intelligence See also Cetacean surfacing behaviour Whales are known to teach learn cooperate scheme and grieve 59 The neocortex of many species of whale is home to elongated spindle neurons that prior to 2007 were known only in hominids 60 In humans these cells are involved in social conduct emotions judgement and theory of mind Whale spindle neurons are found in areas of the brain that are homologous to where they are found in humans suggesting that they perform a similar function 61 Bubble net feeding Brain size was previously considered a major indicator of the intelligence of an animal Since most of the brain is used for maintaining bodily functions greater ratios of brain to body mass may increase the amount of brain mass available for more complex cognitive tasks Allometric analysis indicates that mammalian brain size scales at approximately the or exponent of the body mass Comparison of a particular animal s brain size with the expected brain size based on such allometric analysis provides an encephalisation quotient that can be used as another indication of animal intelligence Sperm whales have the largest brain mass of any animal on Earth averaging 8 000 cubic centimetres 490 in3 and 7 8 kilograms 17 lb in mature males in comparison to the average human brain which averages 1 450 cubic centimetres 88 in3 in mature males 62 The brain to body mass ratio in some odontocetes such as belugas and narwhals is second only to humans 63 Small whales are known to engage in complex play behaviour which includes such things as producing stable underwater toroidal air core vortex rings or bubble rings There are two main methods of bubble ring production rapid puffing of a burst of air into the water and allowing it to rise to the surface forming a ring or swimming repeatedly in a circle and then stopping to inject air into the helical vortex currents thus formed They also appear to enjoy biting the vortex rings so that they burst into many separate bubbles and then rise quickly to the surface 64 Some believe this is a means of communication 65 Whales are also known to produce bubble nets for the purpose of foraging 66 A southern right whale sailing Larger whales are also thought to some degree to engage in play The southern right whale for example elevates their tail fluke above the water remaining in the same position for a considerable amount of time This is known as sailing It appears to be a form of play and is most commonly seen off the coast of Argentina and South Africa Humpback whales among others are also known to display this behaviour 67 Life cycle See also Right whale Courtship and reproduction Whales are fully aquatic creatures which means that birth and courtship behaviours are very different from terrestrial and semi aquatic creatures Since they are unable to go onto land to calve they deliver the baby with the fetus positioned for tail first delivery This prevents the baby from drowning either upon or during delivery To feed the new born whales being aquatic must squirt the milk into the mouth of the calf Being mammals they have mammary glands used for nursing calves they are weaned off at about 11 months of age This milk contains high amounts of fat which is meant to hasten the development of blubber it contains so much fat that it has the consistency of toothpaste 68 Females deliver a single calf with gestation lasting about a year dependency until one to two years and maturity around seven to ten years all varying between the species 13 This mode of reproduction produces few offspring but increases the survival probability of each one Females referred to as cows carry the responsibility of childcare as males referred to as bulls play no part in raising calves Most mysticetes reside at the poles So to prevent the unborn calf from dying of frostbite they migrate to calving mating grounds They will then stay there for a matter of months until the calf has developed enough blubber to survive the bitter temperatures of the poles Until then the calves will feed on the mother s fatty milk 69 With the exception of the humpback whale it is largely unknown when whales migrate Most will travel from the Arctic or Antarctic into the tropics to mate calve and raise during the winter and spring they will migrate back to the poles in the warmer summer months so the calf can continue growing while the mother can continue eating as they fast in the breeding grounds One exception to this is the southern right whale which migrates to Patagonia and western New Zealand to calve both are well out of the tropic zone 70 Sleep Further information Sleep in animals Unlike most animals whales are conscious breathers All mammals sleep but whales cannot afford to become unconscious for long because they may drown While knowledge of sleep in wild cetaceans is limited toothed cetaceans in captivity have been recorded to sleep with one side of their brain at a time so that they may swim breathe consciously and avoid both predators and social contact during their period of rest 71 A 2008 study found that sperm whales sleep in vertical postures just under the surface in passive shallow drift dives generally during the day during which whales do not respond to passing vessels unless they are in contact leading to the suggestion that whales possibly sleep during such dives 71 EcologyForaging and predation See also Beluga whale Predation Polar bear with the remains of a beluga All whales are carnivorous and predatory Odontocetes as a whole mostly feed on fish and cephalopods and then followed by crustaceans and bivalves All species are generalist and opportunistic feeders Mysticetes as a whole mostly feed on krill and plankton followed by crustaceans and other invertebrates A few are specialists Examples include the blue whale which eats almost exclusively krill the minke whale which eats mainly schooling fish the sperm whale which specialize on squid and the grey whale which feed on bottom dwelling invertebrates 15 72 73 The elaborate baleen teeth of filter feeding species mysticetes allow them to remove water before they swallow their planktonic food by using the teeth as a sieve 68 Usually whales hunt solitarily but they do sometimes hunt cooperatively in small groups The former behaviour is typical when hunting non schooling fish slow moving or immobile invertebrates or endothermic prey When large amounts of prey are available whales such as certain mysticetes hunt cooperatively in small groups 74 Some cetaceans may forage with other kinds of animals such as other species of whales or certain species of pinnipeds 75 76 Large whales such as mysticetes are not usually subject to predation but smaller whales such as monodontids or ziphiids are These species are preyed on by the otv or orca To subdue and kill whales orcas continuously ram them with their heads this can sometimes kill bowhead whales or severely injure them Other times they corral the narwhals or belugas before striking They are typically hunted by groups of 10 or fewer orcas but they are seldom attacked by an individual Calves are more commonly taken by orcas but adults can be targeted as well 77 These small whales are also targeted by terrestrial and pagophilic predators The polar bear is well adapted for hunting Arctic whales and calves Bears are known to use sit and wait tactics as well as active stalking and pursuit of prey on ice or water Whales lessen the chance of predation by gathering in groups This however means less room around the breathing hole as the ice slowly closes the gap When out at sea whales dive out of the reach of surface hunting orcas Polar bear attacks on belugas and narwhals are usually successful in winter but rarely inflict any damage in summer 78 Whale pump Whale pump the role played by whales in recycling ocean nutrients 79 A 2010 study considered whales to be a positive influence to the productivity of ocean fisheries in what has been termed a whale pump Whales carry nutrients such as nitrogen from the depths back to the surface This functions as an upward biological pump reversing an earlier presumption that whales accelerate the loss of nutrients to the bottom This nitrogen input in the Gulf of Maine is more than the input of all rivers combined emptying into the gulf some 23 000 metric tons 25 000 short tons each year 80 79 Whales defecate at the ocean s surface their excrement is important for fisheries because it is rich in iron and nitrogen The whale faeces are liquid and instead of sinking they stay at the surface where phytoplankton feed off it 79 81 82 Whale fall Main article Whale fall Upon death whale carcasses fall to the deep ocean and provide a substantial habitat for marine life Evidence of whale falls in present day and fossil records shows that deep sea whale falls support a rich assemblage of creatures with a global diversity of 407 species comparable to other neritic biodiversity hotspots such as cold seeps and hydrothermal vents 83 Deterioration of whale carcasses happens though a series of three stages Initially moving organisms such as sharks and hagfish scavenge the soft tissues at a rapid rate over a period of months and as long as two years This is followed by the colonization of bones and surrounding sediments which contain organic matter by enrichment opportunists such as crustaceans and polychaetes throughout a period of years Finally sulfophilic bacteria reduce the bones releasing hydrogen sulfide enabling the growth of chemoautotrophic organisms which in turn support other organisms such as mussels clams limpets and sea snails This stage may last for decades and supports a rich assemblage of species averaging 185 species per site 83 84 Relationship with humansWhaling Main articles Whaling and History of whaling Whale Fishing Woodcut by Thevet Paris 1574 Dutch whalers near Spitsbergen their most successful port Abraham Storck 1690 Whaling by humans has existed since the Stone Age Ancient whalers used harpoons to spear the bigger animals from boats out at sea 85 People from Norway and Japan started hunting whales around 2000 B C 86 Whales are typically hunted for their meat and blubber by aboriginal groups they used baleen for baskets or roofing and made tools and masks out of bones 86 The Inuit hunted whales in the Arctic Ocean 86 The Basques started whaling as early as the 11th century sailing as far as Newfoundland in the 16th century in search of right whales 87 88 18th and 19th century whalers hunted whales mainly for their oil which was used as lamp fuel and a lubricant baleen or whalebone which was used for items such as corsets and skirt hoops 86 and ambergris which was used as a fixative for perfumes The most successful whaling nations at this time were the Netherlands Japan and the United States 89 Commercial whaling was historically important as an industry well throughout the 17th 18th and 19th centuries Whaling was at that time a sizeable European industry with ships from Britain France Spain Denmark the Netherlands and Germany sometimes collaborating to hunt whales in the Arctic sometimes in competition leading even to war 90 By the early 1790s whalers namely the Americans and Australians focused efforts in the South Pacific where they mainly hunted sperm whales and right whales with catches of up to 39 000 right whales by Americans alone 87 91 By 1853 US profits reached US 11 000 000 GB 6 5m equivalent to US 348 000 000 GB 230m today the most profitable year for the American whaling industry 92 Commonly exploited species included North Atlantic right whales sperm whales which were mainly hunted by Americans bowhead whales which were mainly hunted by the Dutch common minke whales blue whales and grey whales The scale of whale harvesting decreased substantially after 1982 when the International Whaling Commission IWC placed a moratorium which set a catch limit for each country excluding aboriginal groups until 2004 93 Current whaling nations are Norway Iceland and Japan despite their joining to the IWC as well as the aboriginal communities of Siberia Alaska and northern Canada 94 Subsistence hunters typically use whale products for themselves and depend on them for survival National and international authorities have given special treatment to aboriginal hunters since their methods of hunting are seen as less destructive and wasteful This distinction is being questioned as these aboriginal groups are using more modern weaponry and mechanized transport to hunt with and are selling whale products in the marketplace Some anthropologists argue that the term subsistence should also apply to these cash based exchanges as long as they take place within local production and consumption 95 96 97 In 1946 the IWC placed a moratorium limiting the annual whale catch Since then yearly profits for these subsistence hunters have been close to US 31 million GB 20m per year 93 Other threats Further information Cetacean bycatch Cetacean stranding and Marine mammals and sonar Whales can also be threatened by humans more indirectly They are unintentionally caught in fishing nets by commercial fisheries as bycatch and accidentally swallow fishing hooks Gillnetting and Seine netting is a significant cause of mortality in whales and other marine mammals 98 Species commonly entangled include beaked whales Whales are also affected by marine pollution High levels of organic chemicals accumulate in these animals since they are high in the food chain They have large reserves of blubber more so for toothed whales as they are higher up the food chain than baleen whales Lactating mothers can pass the toxins on to their young These pollutants can cause gastrointestinal cancers and greater vulnerability to infectious diseases 99 They can also be poisoned by swallowing litter such as plastic bags 100 Advanced military sonar harms whales Sonar interferes with the basic biological functions of whales such as feeding and mating by impacting their ability to echolocate Whales swim in response to sonar and sometimes experience decompression sickness due to rapid changes in depth Mass strandings have been triggered by sonar activity resulting in injury or death 101 102 103 104 Whales are sometimes killed or injured during collisions with ships or boats This is considered to be a significant threat to vulnerable whale populations such as the North Atlantic right whale whose total population numbers less than 500 105 Conservation Main article Whale conservation World population graph of blue whales Whaling decreased substantially after 1946 when in response to the steep decline in whale populations the International Whaling Commission placed a moratorium which set a catch limit for each country this excluded aboriginal groups up until 2004 89 96 106 107 As of 2015 aboriginal communities are allowed to take 280 bowhead whales off Alaska and two from the western coast of Greenland 620 grey whales off Washington state three common minke whales off the eastern coast of Greenland and 178 on their western coast 10 fin whales from the west coast of Greenland nine humpback whales from the west coast of Greenland and 20 off St Vincent and the Grenadines each year 107 Several species that were commercially exploited have rebounded in numbers for example grey whales may be as numerous as they were prior to harvesting but the North Atlantic population is functionally extinct Conversely the North Atlantic right whale was extirpated from much of its former range which stretched across the North Atlantic and only remains in small fragments along the coast of Canada Greenland and is considered functionally extinct along the European coastline 108 World map showing International Whaling Commission IWC members in blue The IWC has designated two whale sanctuaries the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary The Southern Ocean whale sanctuary spans 30 560 860 square kilometres 11 799 610 sq mi and envelopes Antarctica 109 The Indian Ocean whale sanctuary takes up all of the Indian Ocean south of 55 S 110 The IWC is a voluntary organization with no treaty Any nation may leave as they wish the IWC cannot enforce any law it makes There are at least 86 cetacean species that are recognized by the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee 111 As of 2020 update six are considered at risk as they are ranked Critically Endangered North Atlantic right whale 112 Endangered blue whale 113 North Pacific right whale 114 and sei whale 115 and Vulnerable fin whale 116 and sperm whale 117 Twenty one species have a Data Deficient ranking 118 Species that live in polar habitats are vulnerable to the effects of recent and ongoing climate change particularly the time when pack ice forms and melts 119 Whale watching Main article Whale watching Whale watching off Bar Harbour Maine An estimated 13 million people went whale watching globally in 2008 in all oceans except the Arctic 120 Rules and codes of conduct have been created to minimize harassment of the whales 121 Iceland Japan and Norway have both whaling and whale watching industries Whale watching lobbyists are concerned that the most inquisitive whales which approach boats closely and provide much of the entertainment on whale watching trips will be the first to be taken if whaling is resumed in the same areas 122 Whale watching generated US 2 1 billion GB 1 4 billion per annum in tourism revenue worldwide employing around 13 000 workers 120 In contrast the whaling industry with the moratorium in place generates US 31 million GB 20 million per year 93 The size and rapid growth of the industry has led to complex and continuing debates with the whaling industry about the best use of whales as a natural resource In myth literature and art Further information Biomusic Whale song in music Engraving by Gilliam van der Gouwen depicting a stranded sperm whale being butchered on the Dutch coast 1598 As marine creatures that reside in either the depths or the poles humans knew very little about whales over the course of human history many feared or revered them The Vikings and various arctic tribes revered the whale as they were important pieces of their lives In Inuit creation myths when Big Raven a deity in human form found a stranded whale he was told by the Great Spirit where to find special mushrooms that would give him the strength to drag the whale back to the sea and thus return order to the world In an Icelandic legend a man threw a stone at a fin whale and hit the blowhole causing the whale to burst The man was told not to go to sea for twenty years but during the nineteenth year he went fishing and a whale came and killed him Whales played a major part in shaping the art forms of many coastal civilizations such as the Norse with some dating to the Stone Age Petroglyphs off a cliff face in Bangudae South Korea show 300 depictions of various animals a third of which are whales Some show particular detail in which there are throat pleats typical of rorquals These petroglyphs show these people of around 7 000 to 3 500 B C E in South Korea had a very high dependency on whales 123 The Pacific Islanders and Australian Aborigines viewed whales as bringers of good and joy One exception is French Polynesia where in many parts cetaceans are met with great brutality 124 In coastal regions of China Korea and Vietnam the worship of whale gods who were associated with Dragon Kings after the arrival of Buddhism was present along with related legends 125 In Vietnam and Ghana among other places whales hold a sense of divinity They are so respected in their cultures that they occasionally hold funerals for beached whales a throwback to Vietnam s ancient sea based Austro Asiatic culture 126 127 128 129 The god of the seas according to Chinese folklore was a large whale with human limbs Illustration by Gustave Dore of Baron Munchausen s tale of being swallowed by a whale While the Biblical Book of Jonah refers to the Prophet Jonah being swallowed by a big fish in later derivations that fish was identified as a whale Whales have also played a role in sacred texts The story of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish is told both in the Qur an 130 and in the biblical Book of Jonah and is mentioned by Jesus in the New Testament Matthew 12 40 131 This episode was frequently depicted in medieval art for example on a 12th century column capital at the abbey church of Mozac France The Bible also mentions whales in Genesis 1 21 Job 7 12 and Ezekiel 32 2 The leviathan described at length in Job 41 1 34 is generally understood to refer to a whale The sea monsters in Lamentations 4 3 have been taken by some to refer to marine mammals in particular whales although most modern versions use the word jackals instead 132 Whalers off Twofold Bay New South Wales Watercolour by Oswald Brierly 1867 In 1585 Alessandro Farnese 1585 and Francois Duke of Anjou 1582 were greeted on his ceremonial entry into the port city of Antwerp by floats including Neptune and the Whale indicating at least the city s dependence on the sea for its wealth 133 In 1896 an article in The Pall Mall Gazette popularised a practice of alternative medicine that probably began in the whaling town of Eden Australia two or three years earlier 134 It was believed that climbing inside a whale carcass and remaining there for a few hours would relieve symptoms of rheumatism 135 Whales continue to be prevalent in modern literature For example Herman Melville s Moby Dick features a great white whale as the main antagonist for Ahab The whale is an albino sperm whale considered by Melville to be the largest type of whale and is partly based on the historically attested bull whale Mocha Dick Rudyard Kipling s Just So Stories includes the story of How the Whale got in his Throat A whale features in the award winning children s book The Snail and the Whale 2003 by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler Niki Caro s film the Whale Rider has a Maori girl ride a whale in her journey to be a suitable heir to the chieftain ship 136 Walt Disney s film Pinocchio features a showdown with a giant whale named Monstro at the end of the film A recording of Song with a Humpback Whale by a team of marine scientists became popular in 1970 Alan Hovhaness s orchestral composition And God Created Great Whales 1970 includes the recorded sounds of humpback and bowhead whales 137 Recorded whale songs also appear in a number of other musical works including Leo Ferre s song Il n y a plus rien and Judy Collins s Farewell to Tarwathie on the 1970 album Whales and Nightingales In captivity Main article Cetaceans in captivity Further information Beluga whale Captivity Beluga whales and trainers in an aquarium Belugas were the first whales to be kept in captivity Other species were too rare too shy or too big The first beluga was shown at Barnum s Museum in New York City in 1861 138 For most of the 20th century Canada was the predominant source of wild belugas 139 They were taken from the St Lawrence River estuary until the late 1960s after which they were predominantly taken from the Churchill River estuary until capture was banned in 1992 139 Russia has become the largest provider since it had been banned in Canada 139 Belugas are caught in the Amur River delta and their eastern coast and then are either transported domestically to aquariums or dolphinariums in Moscow St Petersburg and Sochi or exported to other countries such as Canada 139 Most captive belugas are caught in the wild since captive breeding programs are not very successful 140 As of 2006 30 belugas were in Canada and 28 in the United States and 42 deaths in captivity had been reported up to that time 139 A single specimen can reportedly fetch up to US 100 000 GB 64 160 on the market The beluga s popularity is due to its unique colour and its facial expressions The latter is possible because while most cetacean smiles are fixed the extra movement afforded by the beluga s unfused cervical vertebrae allows a greater range of apparent expression 141 Between 1960 and 1992 the Navy carried out a program that included the study of marine mammals abilities with sonar with the objective of improving the detection of underwater objects A large number of belugas were used from 1975 on the first being dolphins 141 142 The program also included training them to carry equipment and material to divers working underwater by holding cameras in their mouths to locate lost objects survey ships and submarines and underwater monitoring 142 A similar program was used by the Russian Navy during the Cold War in which belugas were also trained for antimining operations in the Arctic 143 Aquariums have tried housing other species of whales in captivity The success of belugas turned attention to maintaining their relative the narwhal in captivity However in repeated attempts in the 1960s and 1970s all narwhals kept in captivity died within months A pair of pygmy right whales were retained in an enclosed area with nets they were eventually released in South Africa There was one attempt to keep a stranded Sowerby s beaked whale calf in captivity the calf rammed into the tank wall breaking its rostrum which resulted in death It was thought that Sowerby s beaked whale evolved to swim fast in a straight line and a 30 metre 98 ft tank was not big enough 144 There have been attempts to keep baleen whales in captivity There were three attempts to keep grey whales in captivity Gigi was a grey whale calf that died in transport Gigi II was another grey whale calf that was captured in the Ojo de Liebre Lagoon and was transported to SeaWorld 145 The 680 kilogram 1 500 lb calf was a popular attraction and behaved normally despite being separated from his mother A year later the 8 000 kilogram 18 000 lb whale grew too big to keep in captivity and was released it was the first of two grey whales the other being another grey whale calf named JJ to successfully be kept in captivity 145 There were three attempts to keep minke whales in captivity in Japan They were kept in a tidal pool with a sea gate at the Izu Mito Sea Paradise Another unsuccessful attempt was made by the U S 146 One stranded humpback whale calf was kept in captivity for rehabilitation but died days later 147 See alsoList of individual cetaceans Whaling in JapanReferences When whales walked on four legs www nhm ac uk Retrieved 12 March 2022 Do whales drink seawater Archived from the original on 25 December 2022 Retrieved 25 December 2022 Gray 2013 a b whale n Online Etymology Dictionary Retrieved 18 March 2018 hwael Bosworth Toller Anglo Saxon Dictionary Retrieved 6 June 2019 Skeat 1898 a b McBrearty 1991 pp 33 65 Gormley 1990 p 10 IWC Small cetaceans IWC The Great Whales Klinowska 1991 p 4 a b c Gatesy 1997 a b Johnson amp Wolman 1984 a b c Cozzi et al 2009 sfn error no target CITEREFCozzi et al 2009 help a b Goldbogen 2010 Froias 2012 Jefferson et al Jeanette et al 1990 pp 203 427 Jefferson 2015a Jefferson 2015b Jefferson 2015c Northeastern Ohio Universities 2007 Dawkins 2004 Berkeley Thewissen et al 2007 Fahlke et al 2011 Kenneth 2001 Bebej et al 2012 a b Reidenberg 2012 p 508 Lam 1999 Moskowitz 2011 Boisserie Lihoreau amp Brunet 2005 PBS Nature 2012 Houben et al 2013 pp 341 344 Steeman et al 2009 pp 573 585 Reidenberg 2012 pp 510 511 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2013 Irish Naturalists Journal 34 2 154 161 Whale New International Encyclopedia 1905 Portals Cetaceans Marine life Mammals Oceans Animals Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Whale amp oldid 1130248927, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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