Five Characteristics of Mammals: 1. Warm Blooded 2. Breathe Air 3. Give live birth 4. Nurse their young 5. Have hair at birth
Whales are divided into Two Sub-orders: 1) those with teeth 2) those with baleen Baleen- material similar to protein found in human hair and fingernails. Works like a strainer to trap plankton.
Parts of a Whale: a) rostrum - beaklike or snoutlike projection b) flukes - lobes of the tail c) dorsal fin d) melon e) blowhole See next slide
Baleen whales have 2 66 species Toothed whales have 1 10 species
Pod – a social group of whales Baleen whales travel alone or in small pods Toothed whales travel in large podshunt together, migrate together, share care of their young
Echolocation - the process by which a whale produces sounds that travel through the water and then listens for the echoes to bounce back.
4 Activities of Whales: a) breaching jump high out of the water - and slap the water as they come back down b) spyhopping -whale pokes its head out of water and turns around c) lobtailing d) logging - Stick its tail out of the water, swing it around and slap it on the water’s surface. Makes a very loud sound which warns the rest of the pod of danger
Blue Whale- largest animal height of a 9 story building, 100 ft long, 150 tons, eats nine tons of krill each day