Download File - Warren Aquatics

Welcome to the Wonders of Whales!
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Cetacea
Suborder Mysticeti
Balaenidae
(Right Whales)
Suborder Odontoceti
Monodontidae
Balaenopteridae (Belugas and Narwahls)
Physeteridae
(Sperm Whales)
(Rorquals)
Ziphiidae
Eschrictiidae
Delphinidae
(Grey Whales)
Platanistidae
(Beaked Whales)
(Dolphins, Porpoises
and Killer Whales) (River Dolphin)
Whales are Mammals
• Whales breathe air into their lungs.
• Whales have hair (although they have a lot less
than land mammals, and have almost none as
adults).
• Whales are warm-blooded (they maintain a high
body temperature).
• Give birth to live young.
• Whales have mammary glands to nourish their
young.
• Whales have a four-chambered heart.
Order Cetaceans
• Cetaceans include the
whales, dolphins and
porpoises.
• There are over 76
species of Cetaceans.
• Whales belong to the
order Cetacea (from the
Greek word "ketos"
which means sea
monster).
Whale Anatomy
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Cetacea
Suborder Mysticeti
Balaenidae
(Right Whales)
Suborder Odontoceti
Monodontidae
Balaenopteridae (Belugas and Narwahls)
Physeteridae
(Sperm Whales)
(Rorquals)
Eschrictiidae
(Grey Whales)
Delphinidae
Ziphiidae
Platanistidae
(Beaked Whales)
(Dolphins, Porpoises
and Killer Whales) (River Dolphin)
Sub-Order
Odontocetes
• Toothed whales - have teeth
although in some species the
teeth never emerge from the
gums
• They have one blowhole
(nostril).
• Toothed whales have an
organ called the melon
(forehead area). The melon
is used for echolocation.
• There are about 66 species
of toothed whales.
Feeding Methods
• Odontocetes hunt and eat prey: have narrow
jaws and conical teeth. Swallow prey whole.
• Use cooperative feeding- encircle schools of
fish- small groups of orcas will even kill much
larger baleen whales.
• Use echolocation to find and catch prey.
Social Groupings
• Pods are the smallest social groupings and are usually
matrilineal.
• Toothed whales pursue and capture larger prey,
including fish and squid. Killer whales hunt in packs
and maintain pods of family members. Sperm whales
also remain in pods and dive to great depths to capture
the giant squid which is the mainstay of their diet.
• In most circumstances feeding behavior affects pod
size.
Porpoises vs. Dolphins
•Dolphins and Porpoises are both whales in the Odontocete suborder.
•Killer whales are actually a type of dolphin.
Dolphins
Porpoises
Tooth
Shape
Dorsal Fin
Connical
Curved
Spade,
flatter
Triangular
Rostrum
Narrowed
Beak
No
prominent
Odontocete families
• Monodontidae (Belugas and Narwahls)
• Delphinidae (Dolphins, Porpoises and Orcas)
• Platanistidae (River dolphins)
• Ziphiidae (Beaked whales)
• Physeteridae (Sperm whales)
Killer
Whale
Narwahl
Sperm whale
Bottle nosed
dolphin
Beluga Whales
Boto Dolphin
Pilot Whale
Porpoise
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Cetacea
Suborder Mysticeti
Balaenidae
(Right Whales)
Suborder Odontoceti
Monodontidae
Balaenopteridae (Belugas and Narwahls)
Physeteridae
(Sperm Whales)
(Rorquals)
Ziphiidae
Eschrictiidae
Delphinidae
(Grey Whales)
Platanistidae
(Beaked Whales)
(Dolphins, Porpoises
and Killer Whales) (River Dolphin)
Sub-Order
Mysticetes
• Lack teeth but use baleen to
sieve tiny crustaceans, small
fish, and other tiny
organisms from the water.
Baleen is a comb-like
structure that filters the
whales' food from the water.
• Baleen whales are larger
than the toothed whales.
• Baleen whales have 2
blowholes (nostrils).
• Baleen whales do not have
the capacity for echolocation,
but they are known for their
songs.
• There are 10 species of
baleen whales.
Baleen
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Feeding methods
•Gulping/Lunging: By taking an
enormous gulp of sea water, large whales
can draw in huge volumes of water,
sucking in several tons of plankton.
•Skimming: some baleen whales simply
open their mouths and skim the top of the
water filtering out their food.
•Bottom-feeding: this method is only
used by Gray whales. Gray whales will
descend to the ocean floor and sweep
their heads back and forth over the
bottom which scares amphipods up out
of the silt and into the mouth of the
whale.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Social Groupings
•Mysticetes tend to live as individuals, except mothers
with calves and during the mating season.
•Some Mysticetes will travel and feed in small groups,
especially visible during bubble netting but often these
groups are short lived.
Balaenopteridae
(Roquals)
Balaenidae
Eschrictiidae
Right Whale
Blue Whale
Minke Whale
Humpback Whale
Bowhead Whale
Bryde’s Whale
Life Expectancy
• Large whales may live as long as 100 years,
bottlenose dolphins live 50 years, small cetaceans live
15-20 years.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
• Recently a bowhead whale died and was discovered to have a
harpoon tip in its blubber layer, of a type used over 150 years ago.
Migration
• Baleen whales migrate
- go towards the poles
in the summer and the
tropics in the winter.
• Migrate because birth
in warm water is
important and to avoid
predation by orcas.
• Toothed whales are
nomadic, but not
migratory - orcas breed
in the polar regions.
Mating
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
• Breeding cycle is linked to
the seasons- baleen whales
have a surge in hormonal
activity as they approach
breeding areas.
• No species is
monogamous - they are
promiscuous or
polygamous.
• Some whales exhibit
unique mating behavior.
For example, narwhals
joust with their tusks to
fight for the female.
Pregnancy
• Gestation is usually 12 months and the mom will return in a year to
calf.
• Sperm whale gestation is 18 months!
• Since they have to fast during migration, whales usually do not breed
in consecutive seasons.
• Pregnant females are the first to leave the feeding grounds and they are
the first to return to the feeding ground.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Birth
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
• First weeks, calf stays by mom tantrums have been witnessed.
• Milk contains 40% fathumpbacks nurse for 11 months,
fin whales nurse for 5 months.
• Blue whale calves grow 180
pounds a day!
• Many nurse for a year and when
they return to the breeding
ground the mothers leave their
young.
• In toothed whales, males leave
the group once they mature.
• Toothed whales usually nurse
for 2 years or longer in some
cases, suggesting that nursing is
often a social behavior as well as
feeding behavior.
Death
• Mortality is the highest once the calf leaves the mom.
• Small cetaceans live 15-20 years, bottlenose dolphins live
50 years and large whales may live as long as 100 years!
• Most common cause of whale death in nature are
starvation and disease while migrating.
• Unfortunately, an increasingly common cause of death is
by entanglement in nets, toxic pollution, and boat strikes.
• A dead ‘whale fall’ provides a smorgasbord to deep sea
creatures. Some may be so specialized that they rely on
dead whales to complete their lifecycle. These species
include sleeper sharks, rattails, hagfish, and amphipods.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg…