Whales the Giants That Are Among UsThey live in almost every sea on earth. You can find them all across the globe. The many types of Whales are: The Blue Whale, Sperm Whale, Killer Whale, Baleen Whale, Humpback Whale, and Bowhead Whale. The list is immense and goes on forever. Whales are mammals and require air to breath. They are the closest relative to a hippopotamus.
Whales have been known to live over 100 years. Here is a documented case of a whale upon being caught had a lance from an ancient harpoon removed from its head. The dating showed the harpoon to be over 200 years old. Sound farfetched? Not really. As fellow planets on this great big earth we often encounter mammals that we know very little about. It has been said that mankind knows more about the moon than it knows about the oceans of the world. This I believe is an understatement.
The Blue whale is the largest of the whales measuring over 100 ft and weighing a staggering 150 tons. The site of this animal is breath taking. Longer than three grey hound busses. Can you imagine that? The sperm Whale hunted to almost extinction once populated this planet in huge numbers. It has been hunted to almost extinction. In the 18 and 19th century people hunted it for the oil that was produced from it to light their lamps. Often the Sperm Whale was killed just for this oil and the meat discarded as rubbish. The Baleen Whale a whale that is unique and filters its food through special appendages that hang like filters from its inside jaws. Primarily the Whale feeds on plankton and Krill. These are tiny shrimp like creatures maybe 1/8th of an inch.
The Killer Whale is a beautiful and an intelligent Whale. This Species of Whale in the late seventies was made popular by a lot of movies and Hollywood productions. Orca and Free Willy were box office hits. These movies depicted this great creature as a predator and also extremely intelligent. This whale is extremely intelligent and has been used to help mankind solve complex problems that are only accessible by a creature such as the Orca. When Whales sleep they only allow one side of their brain to go to sleep at a time. This is due to the fact that as air breathing creatures they must surface and breathe.
Falling asleep for too long could be fatal. Male whales are called Bulls and babies are called calves. The female nurses her calve for over one year. Supplying a calve with milk, is an ongoing job. The milk is thick to the consistency of paste. Whales can communicate through songs generated at ultra high frequencies. These songs have been heard inside a submarine over 1000 miles from the whale producing them. Now that’s what I call being heard! Whales are very social animals often staying near the body of other whales after death. This brings up the fact that maybe Whales feel hurt and emotional pain. I believe they do. Can you imagine living in the sea and seeing your loved ones hunted and killed? This article has only tickled the surface of the information on Whales. And by no means am I a master of the Whale facts. But my hope would be for the awareness of others to be scratched and promote the saving of whales. Hunting these wonderful animals is a real shame. We no longer need anything that is harvested from them. We have many other alternatives at our disposal.
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Jeff Merrow
103 Sweet Bay Ct
Hampstead, NC
28443
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