All About Whales

Written by: Natalie Yao

Whales are wonderful creatures that live in oceans all around our planet, and there are over 90 types of them! You might think that whales are fish, but they are actually mammals that help our environment greatly.

Whales’ Features

The size of an adult whale is between 10 feet to over 100 feet long, depending on the species. For example, a beluga whale is normally as long as 11 to15 feet long but a blue whale, the largest animal on Earth, can be 80 to 105 feet long!

Whales are protected by a large wall of fat called blubber under their smooth skin. While you might think that most whales are blue, only a small amount of them appear blue and a great number of them are actually black, white, or gray.

The tail of a whale is used to help them move when they push it up and down. Yet to steer, whales use their fins on the sides of their bodies to direct themselves. To breathe, whales have to swim to the surface to get oxygen through blowholes that can be found on their head.

What Do Whales Eat?

Whales are carnivores, meaning they eat other animals. Most whales have teeth which makes them able to eat things such as squid, fish, and other mammals. However, for the whales without teeth, they swallow large numbers of small fish and krill, a type of shrimp.

Whale Behavior

Whales normally travel in groups called schools, and there might be a few whales to almost 1,000 of them in a school. Whales also talk to each other in different ways, like coming out of the water and flipping. They can also talk through songs and sounds that can last hours. These sounds can also be used to find objects in the ocean that whales can not see, such as food or other whales.

Habitat

Whales can be found in oceans and rivers all around the world. Different types of can whales survive  in different temperatures, warm or cold! For example, Bryde’s whale lives in warm waters like the Gulf of Mexico, while the Beluga whale can be found in freezing areas like the Arctic Ocean!

How Are Whales Important For Our Environment?

Whales are great creatures that help us in our fight against climate change. Since they are at the top of the food chain, whales keep a good balance of animals in our oceans through what they eat! 

These mammals also capture several tons of carbon from our oceans, keeping it out of our environment and further warming the Earth. Yet, global warming and climate change is the reason why several species of whales are endangered.

Knowing the importance of whales will help us understand why it is important to protect them!